It had been the longest, most excruciating two hours of Rose's life.

When the patronus dissolved into silvery wisps of air, her heart had lodged in her throat as her stomach ended up somewhere near her feet. She'd stayed in a state of panic as they waited to be allowed to go to the hospital, and then still as she sat there and watched her cousin's frantic pacing.

It had slightly calmed her when the Malfoys were allowed to go back to see their son, but she grew antsier with every minute they were gone. She'd nearly gotten up to follow when Harry and Al had made their way back to his room as well, but stopped at the feel of her dad's hand on her knee.

"You might want to give them a minute," he said, his tone soft and his eyes apologetic.

"Why?" asked Rose. Her dad shrugged.

"Harry's still in Auror mode, so I'm willing to bet he's got some questions for Malfoy," he explained. "I know I would."

Rose sighed in frustration and sat back in her seat. And it was an excruciatingly long ten minutes later when her uncle came out, offered her a soft smile, and said Scorpius was asking for her.

"How is he?" Rose asked as she approached her uncle.

"Trust me, I've seen much worse," said Harry with a reassuring smile. "Just took a nice shot to the jaw. Now quit dawdling and go fuss over him."

Rose felt herself smiling for the first time in hours, pausing only to give her uncle a grateful hug before hurrying down the hall. She had to stop and collect herself a bit outside his door, but the moment she'd pushed it open and saw Scorpius sitting there, looking as resilient as ever, nothing was going to stop her from running into his arms as soon as humanly possible.

His eyes lit up at the sound of her voice, and he smiled a bit crookedly as he welcomed her into his embrace. Rose briefly registered his parents and her cousin excusing themselves from the room as she pulled away to examine his face. His jaw and cheekbone were a mix of yellow and purple and slightly swollen, which explained his inability to smile fully.

"Does it hurt?" she asked softly, her fingers barely grazing his jaw as she stood between his legs.

"They gave me something for the pain," he said, mumbling slightly due to the swelling. "It should be all healed up in a couple of days."

Rose nodded, her gaze moving from his jaw to his eyes, which were drinking her in as a smile played at his lips.

"What?" she asked, noting the way his hands hadn't strayed from her waist as she rested her own against his chest.

"I was just remembering my last Quidditch match," he said with a hint of amusement. Rose gave him an incredulous look. "The Hospital Wing visit you paid me afterward, more specifically."

Rose blinked at him in surprise. "You mean when I broke down in tears because I was so worried about you?" she asked pointedly. Scorpius' expression turned guilty.

"Well, I wasn't thinking about that part," he admitted. "I suppose it would be best if we stop meeting like this."

His attempt to be light-hearted worked, but only slightly. Rose was still coming out of the terror that had set in the moment she'd been made aware Scorpius had been injured. It had been her greatest fear from the moment she'd learned Scorpius wanted to be an Auror. And he'd barely even been one for a month.

"I was really worried about you," she admitted in a whisper, her words unable to come out any stronger. She sunk further into him as his hands moved to her back, pulling her close and allowing her to rest her head on his chest.

"I'm fine," Scorpius assured her as he kissed the top of her head. "You've got no reason to worry."

His words caused a sinking feeling in Rose's stomach. As far as she was concerned, she had every reason to be worried.

"You don't know that," she said, her voice coming out strained. "You can't know that."

Tears began to form in Rose's eyes, completely against her will. This part wasn't supposed to happen yet. She was supposed to have months and even years to get used to the idea of him being in danger. Apparently, she wasn't going to be granted that luxury.

"Hey," said Scorpius, his tone soothing but holding a slight amount of alarm as he pulled her away from him, his hands moving up to her shoulders and then cupping her face to get her to look up at him. "What happened today," he said with a furrowed brow, "that had nothing to do with me training to be an Auror, okay? Even if I'd chosen to be a Healer or a baker, it probably still would've happened. You know that, right?"

Rose let out a shaky breath and nodded, her watery eyes causing her to sniffle a bit as she averted her gaze from his penetrating stare.

"Yes," she said softly. "But you can't expect my mind not to go to the worst possible scenario or for me to be all calm and collected when a lot worse could've happened. And probably will happen in the future. You were attacked in your family's own home, Scorpius," she said imploringly as she met his eyes once again. "What if someone's after your family? What if something happens again?"

Rose was having trouble catching her breath as fear and anxiety overtook her. She barely registered the concern in Scorpius' eyes as her hands grew shaky and her eyes welled with tears. And then warmth and darkness overtook her, allowing her to finally take a deep breath, her hands gripping the front of Scorpius' shirt. It was only then that she realized the warmth and the darkness came from his embrace as he held her tight against his chest, his arms encircling her, his hands soothingly stroking her back as he cradled her and kept her warm and safe.

"I'm sorry," she eventually said in a muffled voice, calmed by the feel of his strong arms and the sound of his beating heart. He squeezed her a little tighter in response.

"Is it always going to be this hard for you?" he asked, his tone soft but worried. "When something happens to me?"

Rose pulled back so she could look up at him, her jaw clenched and eyes fierce. "That's the point," she said. "When something happens to you. And it won't be just once or twice but too many times to count. I've seen it all before and lived through it going almost as bad as it could possibly go. So I don't see it getting any easier for me, no."

It was obvious Scorpius was distressed by her words, but she couldn't take them back. She couldn't tell him it didn't matter and that she wouldn't be worried about him. He wouldn't have believed her anyway.

"All right," he said, his brow furrowed and his eyes focused somewhere around her chin as he soothingly ran his hands up and down her arms. "All right, so, do you still…"

He trailed off, now seeming very on edge as his hands moved to shakily hold both of hers. But before he could finish his question, they were both distracted by the sound of the door swinging open behind Rose.

"Sorry if we're interrupting," Astoria said as she approached them, though she was either unaware or ignored the fact that she really was interrupting. And it was the first time Rose ever suspected that Astoria Malfoy was anything other than perfectly healthy. Her already fair complexion now appeared pale, and she didn't seem quite as steady on her feet.

"You're fine," said Scorpius, who was watching his mother in concern as his father entered the room.

"We're heading home," the older Malfoy said, obviously in an off mood himself as he spoke to his son. He looked quite disgruntled, actually. "Unless you need anything else?" he asked. "I'm sure Miss Weasley can more than look after you."

Rose willed herself to not begin rambling awkwardly at Draco's implication. Were they really at a point in life where their parents didn't feel the need to hover and take care of them at the slightest cause of worry? Was she now the person who was assumed would be there for Scorpius when he needed taking care of?

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Scorpius assured his parents, acting completely at ease and reaching out to hold Rose's hand. She turned to look at him, returning his soft smile.

"Let us know when Erin wakes up, will you?" asked Astoria, seeming to grow a bit more unsteady by the second. "Her family should be the ones with her, but I can't help feeling concerned and responsible since all this happened in our home."

Scorpius nodded, accepting a hug and a kiss on the cheek from his mother. "We will. Do you know if they've heard anything?"

Draco shook his head, placing a hand on his son's shoulder and wishing him farewell. He didn't seem entirely present, and Rose could tell Scorpius noticed it as well. But his thoughts were more focused on his mother.

"You all right, Mum?" he asked as she stepped away from him and gripped his father's arm to steady herself.

"Yes, I'm fine," she assured him with a shaky smile. "Just a little rundown. Floo if you need anything?"

Scorpius nodded, asking her to do the same. Astoria simply rolled her eyes and patted him on the cheek, and then she and Draco were walking out of the room once again.

"That's the first time I've really noticed," said Scorpius, his voice soft as he watched the door his parents had just gone through swing shut. Rose felt a pang somewhere in the region of her heart at the thought of Scorpius living in fear of his mother's health declining. She reached out so she was holding both of his hands once again, gripping in silent comfort. Scorpius turned to her, the soft smile he gave her only momentarily appearing on his lips. Rose's brow furrowed in concern when he looked down at their hands and let out a deep breath.

"Do you still want to do this?" he asked, his voice hesitant and a bit shaky.

"Do what?" asked Rose, momentarily confused by his question. But then she remembered the conversation they'd been having before they were interrupted and continued with a sense of rising dread and fear. "Are you talking about us?"

Scorpius sighed, dropping one of her hands to run his own over the uninjured side of his face. "I just don't know what I'm supposed to do here," he admitted, dropping his hand back down to his lap. Rose was quick to grab it once again, which seemed to reassure him a bit. "I don't want you to be worried, but I can't promise you'll never have a reason to be either. I mean…do you want me to quit training or-"

"No!" Rose cut him off, and he finally met her eyes again. "I'd never ask you to do that."

"Then what do you want me to do, Rose?" he asked in distress and exasperation. "Because I hate seeing you like this, but I don't want you to ever feel like you have to walk away either."

"I'm not going to do that," she assured him, her voice taking on a softer quality as she gripped his hands tighter. "I'll just… have to figure out a way to not completely lose my head every time something happens to you."

Scorpius still looked skeptical. "You sure you can do that?"

Rose nodded, feeling a sense of resolve as she met his still hesitant eyes. Taking care of him was not only something she felt she was now supposed to do, but something she wanted to do. And she couldn't very well do that if she was falling apart in a panic anytime something happened to him. And she couldn't do it if they weren't together either.

"I once said that I'd rather be scared to lose you than be without you," she said with fierce determination, "and I meant that."

Finally seeming to be reassured, Scorpius gave Rose a soft smile, pulling her a bit closer and moving his hands to her waist again. "You're not going to lose me," he assured her. "There're a couple dozen other Aurors who're going to have my back out there. It's not like I'm going to be regularly running into danger on my own."

"Or ever, hopefully," she said with a pointed look. "And you're going to be more than capable of taking care of yourself too, because you're going to be a brilliant Auror."

Scorpius gave her a full smile. "You think so?"

Rose couldn't help returning his smile, her hands moving back to his chest but slowly making their way up so she could wind her arms around his neck. "I know so," she said, her tone slightly teasing but still sincere as she brushed her nose against his. Scorpius let out a sigh of contentment and rested his forehead against hers, his fingers pressing firmly into her back. It was heavenly, the feeling of being this close to him. And though Rose wanted to be closer still, she felt guilty for even thinking about snogging her boyfriend silly when her best friend was lying unconscious in a hospital bed down the hall.

"Do you think Erin will be okay?" she asked softly, her eyes falling closed as she focused her senses on feeling Scorpius' comforting presence. She felt him take a deep breath, letting it out in a long sigh.

"I hope so," he said. his words barely more than a murmur. "I just wish I'd gotten there soon."

"That's not your fault," she was quick to pull back and assure him, her hands gripping his shoulders. "Even I thought Al was being ridiculous for worrying."

Scorpius gave a hum, reluctantly agreeing as his eyes met hers. "Just makes things feel more real, you know?" he said.

"What does?"

"What happened," he said with a shrug. "All the bad and hard things about the world that we didn't really have to think about in school, it's all a lot closer now."

Rose sighed, moving even closer so she stood fully between his legs. "And you wonder why I worry."

Scorpius gave a soft snort of amusement. "That's fair, I guess. It's just that... we were kids not that long ago."

"And we've been thrown into the deep end a little faster than anticipated," Rose agreed. "So it's not easy to ignore that the world is scary and nothing is certain and anything could happen at any moment. I mean, Erin was simply doing her job - which isn't even a dangerous one - and something like this happens. Who's to say what we'll face tomorrow or the day after, you know?"

The whirring of her mind came to an abrupt halt when Scorpius leaned in and placed a slow, delicate kiss on her temple, lingering long enough for Rose to take a few deep breaths before he pulled back to look at her.

"Life isn't really that fun when you worry about all the 'what if's'," Scorpius said with a soft assurance. "Sometimes you just have to.. take a leap, have some faith, and face things when they happen."

Rose took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and exhaled. She was pleased when it didn't come out shakily.

"And in the meantime," Scorpius continued, pulling her a bit closer and causing Rose to open her eyes. She was surprised to see how sincere his gaze was. "We take advantage of the moments we get, all right?"

It was so simple and even cliche, but Scorpius' words simultaneously soothed and excited Rose. She knew she had a tendency to worry and stress and expect the worst, and Scorpius knew that too. The fact that he seemed to know exactly what to say to calm her and reassure her was making her fall even more in love with him

His warmth and his closeness became overwhelmingly prevalent to Rose, and she knew she wasn't imagining the tension and the pull they had toward each other. Keeping her eyes locked on his steely and intense gaze, she lifted one of her hands from his shoulders to brush lightly against his injured jaw.

"Are you in any pain or-?"

Her question was cut off when Scorpius answered in the form of melding his mouth against hers. Rose's breath caught in her throat, but she quickly relaxed into his familiar and comforting embrace. There was a sense of urgency to his kiss that she hadn't been expecting, and she responded eagerly, doing her best not to worry about his injured jaw as her hands wound into his hair and one of his began to trail up under the back of her shirt to lightly graze her skin. Rose shivered against him at his delicate touch and easily picked up on the slight smirk her reaction caused. Not wanting to be outdone, Rose pulled his lower lip between her teeth and gently bit down, unable to keep from grinning in triumph as Scorpius let out a gasp. Rather than throw him off, it only served to spur him on, and Rose tightened her grip on his hair as his palm flattened against her bare back and pulled her closer. At this point, the only way she could get any closer would be to crawl into his lap, which was an incredibly tempting idea.

It appeared her boyfriend was having very similar thoughts, because a moment later, he was guiding her up by her hips, easily assisting her in planting a knee on either side of him, all with their lips still locked in a passionate kiss. His arms wrapped around her waist as hers went around his neck. She buried her hands in his hair as he crushed her to his chest and kissed her still more fiercely, his tongue doing maddening things to her own.

She wanted to forget everything and stay like this forever. And maybe relieve him of his shirt. She could feel his heart beating against her own, and she wanted to feel more.

Any thought of pursuing this tempting idea was completely derailed by a very pointed cough coming from behind Rose. She froze momentarily before quickly detaching her mouth from Scorpius and whipping her head around. Her eyes widened and her pounding heart nearly stopped to see her father standing in the doorway, a furrowed brow and pursed lips adorning his face.

Rose nearly fell to the floor in her haste to climb off her boyfriend, but Scorpius caught her by the arm just in time. He stood as she steadied herself, but chose to stand almost completely behind her, his face pale and his grip on her arm a little too tight as he watched her father in trepidation.

The awkwardness in the room was thick and unavoidable. It wasn't like it was the first time her father had ever caught them showing affection, but this felt different. Rose didn't blame Scorpius for letting out an uncomfortable cough and rubbing at his neck as he failed to continue to hold her father's gaze. It had been a very intimate moment. Probably the most physically intimate moment they'd ever had.

Bloody hell. She'd been on top of him, hadn't she?

With a groan, Rose buried her face in her hands as her cheeks began to burn and her father continued to look between them as if waiting for an explanation.

"What is it, Dad?" Rose finally asked, her words mumbled as her face was still hidden behind her hands. She heard her father clear his throat, composing himself, and his tone came out much more calm than she'd been expecting.

"Erin's awake."

Rose's head flew up and her eyes widened in hope at her father's words. "Really?" she asked, not forgetting about their awkward situation but finding it far from important now. "Is she okay?"

"I don't know much else," said Ron, who was no longer shooting glares at Scorpius, but was still having trouble focusing on his daughter. "Al and her family just went back to see her."

Rose nodded as she walked towards her father, who opened the door and stepped back to allow her to walk through ahead of him. She was a few steps through the door when she realized she hadn't been followed. It was with a roll of her eyes that Rose leaned back against the wall just outside the now closed door that led to Scorpius' hospital room. Charging in there and begging her dad not to threaten her boyfriend would only make the situation more embarrassing.

It was less than a minute later that the door swung open and a confused looking Scorpius walked through, closing followed by Rose's dad.

"I'm going to go check in with your mum," Ron said to Rose, acting far more normal than she felt the situation warranted. "See if she needs anything and get her up to speed with things here."

"Okay," said Rose, a bit surprised by Scorpius grabbing her hand. Especially in her father's presence and after what he'd just witnessed.

"Let us know if anything else comes up, yeah?" said Ron, though his words were directed at Scorpius this time. Rose tried to not let her emotions show too clearly on her face as she looked at Scorpius in surprise, who nodded at her father. With that last assurance, Ron Weasley left his daughter and her boyfriend behind, heading out of the hospital.

"What did he say to you?" Rose asked her boyfriend as soon as her father was out of earshot. Scorpius shrugged, still looking confused as he started leading her down the hall.

"Well, he told me I better be treating you well, but also that he trusts me."

Rose's brow rose in surprise as they continued down the hall. "That's… that's not what I expected, actually."

Scorpius gave her a small smile, but despite the fact that this was a good development as far as her father was concerned, he still seemed unsettled.

"Was that all?" Rose asked, stopping outside Erin's hospital room. Scorpius sighed and stopped beside her, dropping her hand and glancing around the hallway as if trying to decide how much to tell her.

"He asked me about Theo," he said quickly, his hands in his pockets and his eyes avoiding hers as he nervously chewed at his lower lip.

"What do you mean?" asked Rose. "What did he ask?"

Scorpius shrugged. "Wanted to know if I'd heard from him or if I knew where he was."

An unsettled feeling began to grow in Rose's stomach. Her dad asking questions about Theo probably wasn't a good sign. "What did you say?"

"That I hadn't and that I don't," was Scorpius' quick response. "I just don't know why he'd ask…"

He trailed off, a contemplative look on his face. Rose barely caught it changing into one of confused realization before he quickly schooled his features, gave her another shrug, and said it probably wasn't a big deal.

But as he knocked softly on the door and slowly began to open it, Rose had a feeling that it was definitely more of a deal than Scorpius said it was. And that he knew it too.


A/N: Sorry to leave you hanging once again when it comes to Erin! i actually got a good chunk written the other day as I find myself with more time on my hands. Hopefully this means you'll be hearing more from me! I've received some lovey responses lately and I wanted to say thank you! I'd greatly appreciate it if you kept those coming. Hope you're all doing well and staying safe!