Chapter 24

"So, what do you do, Albus?" Mr Spencer asked. He sat at one end of the small rectangular table, across from Albus at the other end. For dinner, Alison had brought home Fish 'n' Chips with a complementary salad from her Fathers favourite Muggle take-away shop. Unfortunately, Albus had just taken a mouth full of food into his mouth, so Alison saved him.

"Albus works in the Muggle Liaison Office."

"Mostly paper pushing stuff," Albus added, after swallowing.

"Oh, and you like it there?" Mr Spencer asked, addressing Albus.

"Yeah, I have always liked Muggles."

"Yes, I must say they do make the best Fish 'n' Chips," Mr Spencer joked as he finished his meal, reaching for his napkin. Albus chuckled along with him, feeling more relaxed. Once they had all finished, Alison cleared the table as Mr Spencer poured Albus a drink. While Alison was in the kitchen, Mr Spencer took advantage of the time alone with Albus.

They walked out onto the small deck in the backyard. Albus could see that it was once a much used family area, but it had sadly been a bit neglected. However, there was one patch in the garden that was as healthy as ever. Noticing Albus' gaze, Mr Spencer explained.

"Her mother loved Jasmine," he said, drawing Albus' attention. He could hear the love in the older man's voice. Mr Spencer's gaze was fixed on the beautiful flowers, his expression slightly sad but his mouth shaped into a small smile. "They planted them together, the summer before her mother…before she was gone." Albus knew about Alison's mother dying, but Alison never really talked about it. He had this strange feeling, he didn't know much about her life before Hogwarts.

"Is that why Alison's middle name is Jasmine?" Albus asked. Mr Spencer seemed to snap out of a kind of trance.

"Yeah, anyway Alison has kept them alive ever since. Even when she was at Hogwarts they stayed alive; I think she used a potion or something." Albus simply nodded as he contemplated that maybe he should have made more of an effort to spend time with his girlfriend since they left Hogwarts. It was now clear that they still had more to learn about each other.

"Listen Albus," Mr Spencer brought Albus out of his thoughts. When he looked over at Mr Spencer, he suddenly felt nervous again. The tone of his voice, accompanied with the look on his face told Albus that this was the conversation he always knew was coming. The stare that the older man gave him said he should be scared. "I think it's only fair that I ask you this, especially since I know my daughter is very serious about you. So Albus, what are your intentions towards my daughter?" he asked very sternly.

"Sir, I love your daughter," Albus said honestly, as he turned to face Mr Spencer straight on. They looked each other straight in the eye, Mr Spencer searching Albus' expression for any reason to doubt him. "And I plan on sharing the rest of my life with her." Albus could see the shock flash across Mr Spencer's expression. "I know it may seem a little odd for an 18 year old man to say that, but Sir, it is the honest to Merlin truth." Mr Spencer studied Albus again; making the young man very nervous at the lack of response from the man he basically said he intended to be his father in-law.

"Well, that's good enough for me," the older man laughed at the look of relief on Albus' face. Once Albus saw the laughing smile on his face, he could tell he did it on purpose. "I always wanted to do that," Mr Spencer said in between his chuckles. "You should've seen the stare down I got from Bonni's father," he added as he howled with laughter. Albus couldn't help but laugh as well and that is how Alison found them.


A short while later, Mr Spencer excused himself for the night, bidding his goodbye to Albus, leaving Alison and Albus sitting on the lounge together.

"That went well. See you had nothing to worry about," Alison said as she cuddled with her boyfriend.

"I guess not," Albus mumbled as he put his arm around her, smiling at the conversation he had earlier with her father. They sat there for a while, in a comfortable silence, just happy to be next to one another. Suddenly, it became clear that Alison had drifted off to sleep. So Albus gracefully picked her up and carried her up the stairs, thankful that Alison had given him a tour when he arrived so he knew he had the right room. Although you could not mistake it for anyone else's once you looked inside. He couldn't explain it; it was just Alison. He gently lowered her onto her bed, lifting the covers from under her and covering her up. He leaned down and softly kissed her lips. However, when he went to pull back Alison started to kiss back. Her hand slid to the back of his neck as she kissed him.

"Stay," Alison whispered when they finally came apart.

"What about your Dad?" Albus mumbled. Alison smiled at his worried tone.

"Please," she said as she lifted the covers. Albus was torn, but eventually gave in. She rolled over as he climbed in under the covers. He wrapped his arms around her, and entwined his sock covered feet with her bare ones. They fell asleep together, spooning.


Albus emerged from the fireplace the next morning to see Scorpius eating an apple while reading the Prophet at the card table they used for dining.

"Have a good night?" Scorpius asked, without looking up from the newspaper. Albus could see the smirk he was trying to hold back.

"Yeah, it was." he replied. "You?"

"Not bad."

Albus walked over to the other chair and sat down across from his best mate. He opened his mouth to breach the topic of Friday, when Scorpius slid a letter across the table to him.

"To you, from Rose," Scorpius stated, still not looking up from the paper. Albus just stared at him. After the moment of silence, Scorpius looked up noticing Albus' odd stare.

"What?"

"How do you know it's from Rose?"

"Just because I was a prat to her doesn't mean I don't recognise her hand writing," he replied, looking back down to read the Quidditch section.

"I didn't know you noticed things like that about her," Albus said as he opened the letter.

"You'd be surprised," Scorpius mumbled before taking a bite out of his apple. Albus caught the comment but decided to ignore it, reading the letter his cousin sent him. It was basically a rant about how much of a prat he is and how he should be spending more time with Alison. It also contained the details for Friday night, explaining how if he didn't come he would have to deal with both her and Victoire; Albus shuttered at that thought. It also said, in big block letters, under no circumstances was Scorpius allowed to attend. Albus sighed as he put the letter down.

Scorpius knew what was coming, and he was grateful for it. He didn't want to hold Albus back anymore. Last night confirmed it; he would be alright on his own. He appreciated everything Albus had done; he really was the best friend anyone could have. However, he also knew that is was selfish to keep him from his own happiness; to keep him from Alison.

"Hey Scorp-"

"Albus, I know what you want to ask and you don't need my permission," Scorpius interrupted.

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely," Scorpius reassured Albus, looking up from the paper. "Look, don't worry about me. Besides, I have a date on Friday."

"Really?" Albus asked disbelievingly.

"Yes, really," Scorpius chuckled.

"A real one?"

"Well, actually it will be our second date," Scorpius said as he folded the paper back up and walked into the kitchen.

"When was the first?" Albus asked, a little shocked, as he followed him into the kitchen.

"Last night," Scorpius answered as he began making a sandwich, buttering some bread. When he looked up and saw the expression of shock and skepticism on his best friend's face, he couldn't help but feel a little ashamed. His best mate doubted whether this was the truth. 'Was I really that bad?' he thought to himself. True, this would be the first time Scorpius would be going on a second date, a proper date.

"I was going to tell you before I left last night but you were already gone," Scorpius explained.

"Oh, well, don't worry about it then. Have fun at work," Albus replied as he left the kitchen. Scorpius continued to make his sandwich and pack his bag for work. He was moving on with his life and Ava was a great girl. He didn't exactly know how to act on a second date, but all he cared about was that he was doing something different, or unexpected. He was changing and he wasn't changing for Rose, he was changing for himself. Rose may have made him see that he wanted to change but the process was totally to satisfy himself.

"Who is she?" he heard Albus ask as he had headed towards the door.

"Her name is Ava. She asked me out after I fixed her car at work."

"And you like her?"

"Yeah, she's great," he answered smiling. Albus nodded his head.

"Well, I am really happy for you."

"Thanks mate," Scorpius said as he closed the door, making his way down stairs to the garage.


Okay, so next chapter we see what will happen on Friday. I know many of you can't wait for Rose and Scorpius to get together but that won't happy straight away. They have to sort their own problems out first. However, I promise when they do, it will be awesome :)

I want to thank all of my reviewers I love seeing you comments, and keeps me motivated. I know that lately I haven't been updating as quickly as when I started this story, I have been super busy but I promise to do my best :) On a positive and slightly scary note, I have my first practicum as a HPE teacher starting next week! So wish me luck.

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