Chapter 39

Hugo's Apartment, 9:00am

Hugo woke up to the soft strum of a guitar, clearly coming from the other side of his wall. He rubbed his eyes as he got out of his bed and made his way to the door. Upon inspection, Hugo quickly came to realise the music was coming from Scorpius' room. The tune wasn't familiar, but it was soft, relaxing and it sounded good. Slowly he opened the door to the room to find Scorpius sitting on his bed playing the melody, his eyes closed as though he was in another place and the small trace of a smile across his lips. Hugo just stood there and listened, leaning against the door frame. When Scorpius stopped, Hugo finally spoke.

"When you said you played the guitar, I didn't know you were that good." Scorpius' looked up to find a boxer-clad Hugo at his door.

"I'm actually not that good but you wouldn't know the difference," Scorpius said with a smirk as he rested his guitar against the bed.

"Eh, you're probably right," Hugo mumbled through a yawn as he turned and made his way to the kitchen of his apartment, Scorpius in tow.

"So, what are you doing today?" Scorpius asked, watching Hugo pour some cereal into a bowl while using his wand to put four slices of bread in the toaster, turning it on as he walked past to get the milk as well as the butter and jam from the fridge.

"Today's Sunday, right?" Hugo asked, offering the Muggle cereal box to the blonde.

"Yep," Scorpius answered, as he nodded thanks and took the cereal while Hugo got him a bowl.

"So, that means only two hours in the gym…" Hugo said before spooning a spoon of cereal into his mouth and putting his bowl back down on the counter. In his last two years of school, Hugo had worked extremely hard in quidditch, putting all of his spare time into it. Especially since his distance from Ella and in turn from Lily. Upon leaving Hogwarts, Hugo received several offers from professional Quidditch teams, including Puddlemere United, the Falmouth Falcons and the Wimbourne Wasps. However, Hugo made his father immensely proud and signed with the Chudley Cannons. "And then video games and pinball or hanging out with Lysander," Hugo added after swallowing, while attending to the toast.

"Sounds like a great day," Scorpius commented as he started his own breakfast.

"Yeah, you're welcome to join. Do you have anything planned?"

"Just lunch with Al; he says he wants to talk to me about something," Scorpius said with a slightly confused tone. "I don't know what it is that he couldn't tell me the other night when we were at the Leaky."

"What did you do?" Hugo teased.

"What?"

"Well, you must have done something if you're in trouble," Hugo said blatantly.

"I didn't do anything and who said I was in trouble?"

"Oh, maybe it's one of those things when you didn't do anything when you should have and that's why you're in trouble," Hugo exclaimed. "Dad says that happens to him a lot," the younger man mumbled as an afterthought. Scorpius chuckled as he caught the comment.

"I'm sure everything is fine," he said, grabbing yesterday's Prophet.

"Well, I guess you'll have to go to lunch to find out," Hugo said, as he made his way around the kitchen making a hot chocolate. Scorpius hummed his agreement as he continued eating with his eyes trained on the paper.

"Why are you reading yesterday's paper?" Hugo asked.

"I'm looking at the job listings," Scorpius answered without lifting his eyes.

"Well, do you want to come to the gym with me this morning?"

"Nah mate, I've got to get a move on with getting a job," Scorpius replied. "But maybe we can hit the town or something tonight?" the blonde added, looking up at Hugo.

"Can't sorry, I've got dinner at Mum and Dad's," Hugo answered, stirring in the cocoa for his hot chocolate. "But you can come, I am sure they would love it."

"Sure, maybe," Scorpius replied, a little unsure but also distracted and confused as he watched the redhead measure out the milk for his hot chocolate before adding it. "What are you doing?" Scorpius asked as Hugo extracted half a teaspoon of honey and added it to his drink.

"Rose makes the best hot chocolate. She does something special to it and she won't tell me what it is," Hugo explained, mixing in the honey. "So, every morning I've been adding different things to mine to see if I can figure it out." Scorpius laughed at his excited tone, he sounded like a child figuring out where his parents hid his Christmas presents.

"Okay, good luck with that."


Albus and Alison's Apartment, 9:30am

Albus walked through his apartment following the smell of bacon. Alison had obviously started breakfast while he was in the shower. She had been up early for a Sunday and was obviously nervous about patching things up with Rose. He entered the kitchen with the full intention of calming his girlfriend and having a pleasant Sunday breakfast with her. However, what he found was not what he was expecting. There was no Alison; on the bench was a plate full of his favourite breakfast foods and a note. He couldn't help but frown slightly disappointed. Albus read the note that explained his girlfriend's absence because of an emergency at work with her deepest apologies and her love. Albus didn't have to meet Scorpius until lunch time, so he thought he could use the time to catch up on some more work as well. He ate quickly and cleaned just as quickly before moving to what used to be Scorpius' room which he and Alison now used as a study or office.


Alison sat at her small desk, shifting through letters and papers regarding an advice column. She usually didn't have anything to do with this, but her superior did. Her new boss of three months was surprisingly younger then her. She had shared a dorm with Lucy at Hogwarts. Even more surprising, Lucy didn't get along well with her, which is odd considering Lucy got along with everybody. Apparently, she was way too chipper and not opinionated, like she was consistently sharing a brain with whoever she was admiring at the time. However, now she definitely had her own brain and it told her to call in Alison, out of the entire staff, to help with her mistake. Linda, who had been the resident advice writer since before Alison had left Hogwarts, had retired earlier that week and the new boss, Brittney, had yet to fill the position. This is why Alison was spending her Sunday shuffling through the hundreds of letters, all asking for the instant solution to all of their problems. Fuelling Alison's already bubbling anger and frustration was the fact that Brittney, who was supposed to cover it until she found a replacement, could have asked her during the week to help and she would have been more then happy to help. However, now she was sitting there on a Sunday, the day of print, covering her boss' mistake instead of spending a lovely Sunday morning with her boyfriend.

Just then, Brittney sat down in her source's chair beside her desk, which accompanied every desk on the floor. Already late, she was supposed to be in there ages ago, struggling with the letters herself; she looked way too happy, as usual, for someone who should be stressing that the paper won't make the deadline.

"Isn't it just a beautiful and peaceful day?" the blonde said, her eyes glazed over. Alison fought to keep the deadly scowl off her face.

"It will be when we finish this," Alison replied through tight lips, her eyes trained on a reply she was writing.

"Have you noticed anything different about me?" Brittney asked, an excited smile playing across her bold lips.

"Should I have?" Alison mumbled without lifting her eyes as her hand worked across the parchment. Then suddenly, her vision was obstructed as Brittney thrust her left hand in front of Alison's face. Immediately, a large, shiny, diamond ring on the third finger caught the brunette's attention.

"Wow...you are-"

"Engaged!" Brittney cut across Alison, excitedly. "Yes, I know. Isn't it just stunning," she said pulling her hand back to admire the ring herself.

"Congratulations," Alison managed with a smile, before returning to her work.

"Thank you," Brittney said, still happily admiring her ring. "Oh, who would have thought after 6 amazing months together, he would propose," she continued to herself, sighing happily.

"6 months?" Alison exclaimed, shocked. "You have known each other for 6 months and he asked you to marry him?"

"No silly," Brittney giggled. "We have been dating for 6 months. We have known each other 8 months."

"What?" Alison still couldn't grasp how they could possibly be engaged after merely 6 months of dating. "But isn't that rushing it a little bit?"

"I love him and he loves me, we are happy together," Brittney shrugged, picking up half the pile of letters. "Why wait?"


Scorpius was at the Leaky, sitting at the bar, waiting for his best mate to arrive. His mind was swirling around what Albus could want to discuss with him so privately, as he took a sip of his Butterbeer. He was just thinking about what Hugo had said that morning when Albus perched himself on the barstool next to him.

"Hey mate," Scorpius greeted.

"Hey," Albus replied, calming Scorpius' dreadful thoughts, with his smile.

"Get much sleep?"

"A bit," Albus replied with a smirk. Scorpius just laughed, seeing right through his friend.

"Can I get you a drink?"

"Nah, not for me," Albus replied, getting off his stool, indicating to Scorpius that they had to leave. "Actually, I was hoping to show you something."

"And what might that be?" Scorpius asked, following Albus' lead, downing the rest of his drink and standing up.

"C'mon, you'll see," Albus replied, already halfway to the door. Scorpius followed him out the door. He led the blonde into a side street, where Albus grasped Scorpius' forearm and Disapparated.


They Apparated to a place Scorpius had not seen before. To him it just looked like an empty unkempt landscape, but he suspected it was somewhere near The Burrow. He turned around, scanning the area; he could see houses and buildings in the distance. He looked back to Albus and that's when he saw it. A large, old house barely stood before them. It was worn, tired and unstable, but you could still see that it had once been a beautiful home. A broken, rotting, picket fence circled the property and weeds could be spotted shooting through the thick long grass that swallowed the house; if it wasn't a two story, Scorpius doubted whether he would see it at all.

"So, what do you think?" Albus cut through Scorpius' thoughts. Scorpius looked over at his best mate, watching the cheesy smile playing on his lips as he gazed at the old abandoned house.

"Of what?" Scorpius replied, following Albus' stare.

"It's a house."

"Barely," Scorpius muttered, amused. Albus caught the comment and gave him a look. "Look, I can see it's a house, but why are you showing me it?" Albus' smile grew brighter.

"Because I own it," he replied, proudly.

"Wow, mate," Scorpius cheered, grasping his hand and giving it a manly shake. "Congratulations."

"Thanks."

"Have you told Alison?"

"No and I am not going to yet."

"Oh mate, I don't know if that's a good idea," Scorpius chuckled. "Remember what happened last time when you held back information about your living arrangements?"

"Yes, but this is different," Albus insisted. Scorpius just gave him a sceptical look. "Just let me explain," he added, turning to face Scorpius, drawing the blonde's full attention. "My boss has been grooming me to take over when he retires for a while now. We are making one last deal together, before I take over the Muggle Liaison Office."

"That's great, Al," Scorpius congratulated him. "I know you have been talking about this for a while now, but I still don't get what it has to do with the house?"

"That's a Muggle community or suburb over there," Albus pointed to the buildings in the distance. "It has a shopping market, a hardware store, a mechanic, a DVD store; everything you could want or need." Scorpius just nodded, waiting for all of the information to make sense. "And this here is going to be the first wizarding suburb that is partly integrated with a Muggle one!"

"Okay, that is very cool, but I am sensing there is more?" Scorpius joked.

"My boss told me on Friday, when this deal is finished and the building is in motion, he is going to step down; meaning that I will be making much more money and hopefully be working more fixable hours." Scorpius was starting to catch on and slowly a smile spread across his lips as he watched the joy in his mate's eyes. "I brought this house to be the home I share with Alison. When it is finished I am going to propose," Albus said pulling out a small black box and opening it to show Scorpius.

"Wow, mate," Scorpius let out a low whistle as he admired the ring. "I am so happy for you," he added, manly slapping Albus on the back.

"Thanks, but here comes the catch," Albus replied. Scorpius began to worry, catching the serious expression. "I want you to fix it up for me." Scorpius was so shocked he didn't really no how to react. He looked over at the house; his first thought was 'how in the world am I going to fix that?'

"What?"

"I know it will be a lot of work, but-"

"A lot of work?" Scorpius cut across him with a sarcastic laugh. "Albus, that's not a fix-it type of job," he said with a raised voice as he pointed to the house. "That's a build-from-basically-the-ground-up type of job!"

"I know, but-"

"Plus, how in hell am I going to afford this?" Scorpius started spilling whatever came to his mind, not even paying attention to Albus. "I have to get some money for my own place at some point. Your family is great but I can't mooch off them forever-"

"Scorp!" Albus yelled, getting the blonde's attention. "I was just going to say that I will hire you; I will pay you. Look, I know that you have to get a job, but I know you can do this. You are the only person I know that can do things fast enough with magic but also the Muggle way so that it is less suspicious to anyone in the neighbouring community. And who knows, there might be more contracts available via my department, when other wizarding families intend to build here," Scorpius didn't say anything and Albus let it sink in.

After a while, the blonde spoke, "Albus, I appreciate the offer but I-"

"Wait, before you decline and let your Malfoy pride shine through," Scorpius rolled his eyes at Albus' comment about Malfoy pride. "Just think about it. You can do everything at your own pace, I can help you out on weekends and in the future you don't have to do anyone else's house if you don't want to; it is just an option." Scorpius did think about it and he was finding it harder to say no. He didn't want his pride to get in the way, like his father would have no doubt.

"Okay, I accept," Scorpius said, extending his hand. Albus smiled, shaking his mate's hand in agreement. "Well, let's get started," Scorpius added, walking towards the property.

"What, now?"

"Yeah, you'll have to give me the metrics of the property before we can even start planning," Scorpius said over his shoulder as he trekked his way through the tall grass.


Sorry, this has been slow. I should have more time now considering I have just finished mt last assignment for the summer semester of Uni. Well, at least for a couple of weeks until the nest semester starts up again. I, like many of us, have a busy year this year :) This chapter is kind of setting up a few extra plot points that I hope some of you are excited about :) Next one, we get a full dosage of Rose and Ali :)

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