Chapter 42

When Scorpius arrived back downstairs, he was a little angered to see Ben outside with Ron and Hugo. For some reason, he didn't think about the possibility that Ben would be joining them for dinner. He quickly had to remind himself that this had probably been the case for a while now. Trying to control his jealousy, he decided to help Hermione with setting the table.

"I'll give you a hand," he said, taking the knives and forks from Hermione in one hand and levitating the plates over to the table with a flick of his wand.

"Thanks," Hermione said gratefully as she returned to the kitchen to retrieve the vegetables and other side dishes she and Rose had prepared to complete the meal. As Scorpius moved around the table, placing the cutlery with each plate, he couldn't help but glance up at the men standing around the barbeque. Ron and Hugo each held a Butterbeer while Ben cradled a wine glass as he rambled on, but Scorpius could see how bored Hugo was and how frustrated Ron was. Apparently Hermione could too as she levitated the heated dishes and placed them along the centre of the large rectangular dining table.

"Scorp, be a dear and go save them," she asked worriedly. "Poor Ben doesn't understand that isn't Ron's normal facial expression and the danger that he is in at the moment." Scorpius laughed at the truth in that statement.

"Sure," he replied, giving Hermione the remaining cutlery before joining the three men outside. When Ben saw Scorpius, he immediately stopped in the middle of his monologue.

"What are you doing here?" he asked in a shocked and slightly unpleasant tone.

"Can't cook to save my life, figured this would be the most enjoyable option," Scorpius replied casually with a forced smile, masking his dislike for the well-polished man in front of him.

"Well, it was lucky that I invited him, otherwise we wouldn't be out here on this nice night cooking on that hunk of junk," Hugo backed Scorpius up. "Mum would be doing it inside."

"You fixed the outside cooker?" Ben asked. Scorpius opened his mouth to reply but Hugo beat him to it.

"Scorp fixes everything," he shrugs, before heading back inside at the sound of his mother calling that dinner was ready. Ron turned the barbeque off, putting the lid on the meat container.

"Unfortunately, he has been known to mess a few things up as well," Scorpius heard Ron mumble, almost bitterly, as they all went inside. Confusion crossed the blonde's face, completely unsure as to why Ron would be angry with him.


"So, how was your lunch with Scorp?" Alison asked, as they sat down at their small table for dinner.

"Good," he replied, barely looking up from his plate. This only added to Alison's worries; he was being incredibly close off with her. "Oh, I met one of Scorp's friends from his travels," Albus said casually into the silence. "He just turned up at Hugo's looking for Scorp. He is pretty chilled out and a lot of fun and has some great stories, so I invited him to the Burrow this weekend," Albus said with a smile.

"Oh," Alison replied. "Are you sure that it would be okay with Teddy and Victoire; I mean it is their baby we are celebrating."

"Yeah, it will be fine," Albus replied in a matter of fact way. Alison wasn't sure what was happening but something felt wrong about this conversation, 'if you could even call it that', she thought. Deciding to ignore her hurt feelings, she started a new topic.

"I had lunch with Rose today."

"Oh, good," he said, finally looking up at her. "How'd it go?"

"Good, we sorted everything out."

"Well, I am happy for you."

"Thank you," she mumbled, as he went back to eating. As a last and final attempt, she asked, "Guess what the real reason was that I had to go in to work today?"

"What?"

"Brittney just wanted to show off her ring," Alison answered, almost bitterly.

"Her ring?"

"Yeah, she just got engaged," Alison replied with a sigh. This time she couldn't hide how deflated she felt.

"But isn't she a bit young to be getting married?" Albus said with a nervous chuckle.

"Some might think so," Alison mumbled before returning to her meal.


"Sweetheart, Ben is here and dinner is ready," Hermione called as she entered the room. Rose seemed to snap out of her daze and moved to join Hermione by the door. "Rose, is everything alright?" Hermione asked, concerned for her daughter.

"Yeah, Mum," Rose answered with a reassuring smile. "Just a lot on my mind, is all."

"Okay, well come on," Hermione said, still concerned, as she guided Rose to the stairs. Once the pair reached the dinning room, Rose felt she had prepared herself for what lay ahead. She was determined to make it through this dinner without any major hiccups. Surprisingly, a part of her was actually glad Scorpius was there. He was always good at lightening the mood, even if in the past it had usually been at her expense, but she knew she could live with it. However, she had a feeling that Scorpius joining them tonight would definitely put Ben on edge. Speak of the devil, Ben pulled her into a crushing hug and kiss upon her arrival, which had her questioning the strength of the wine in his hand. Especially since he did it in front of her father, who had just put the meat in the centre of the table and was already wearing a scowl.

"Okay everyone, tuck in," Hermione said, sending a look to Ron, in an attempt to distract her husband. "We don't want it to get cold." Hugo on the other hand didn't need to be told twice as he immediately planted himself down at the table and started filling up his plate. Scorpius joined him slowly, sitting down next to Hugo, as Rose sat across from him with Ben to her right.

As Scorpius scooped some of the potato bake from his plate, he smiled at the memories that flooded his mind. Bringing it into his mouth, he closed his eyes and savoured the taste of the cheesy and herb-spiced potato dish. It was his favourite; it instantly reminded him of the dinners he had spent with the Weasley's in the past. The fun summer days spent playing quidditch with Albus, James and Fred, the food fights, and the water fights. When he opened his eyes, he saw Rose smirking at him from across the table trying to hold back her laughter, as everyone else, apart from Hugo, stared curiously at his facial expression.

"This is definitely one of the things I missed the most," Scorpius started after swallowing, using his fork to point to the remaining potato bake on his plate. "I don't know how you do it, Mrs Weasley, but you can't find it better anywhere else in the world. It is the best," he finished with a smile towards Hermione, which she gratefully returned. However, before she could open her mouth to reply, Hugo interrupted with a snort and said something completely unintelligible while showing the whole table the contents of mouth.

"Hugo! Manners!" Hermione scolded with a sharp glare at her 19 year old son. Hugo looked down at this plate, swallowing and mumbling his apology. Both Scorpius and Rose were holding back their laughter at the scene while Ben simply looked disgusted. "What I think Hugo was trying to say, Scorpius," Hermione said, her features turning bright and pleasant again. "Is that it is Rose's special recipe, always has been."

"Really?" Scorpius said, not quite sure what to say. Rose just simply nodded before delicately lifting some food into her mouth, trying to hide her smirk at Scorpius' surprised expression. "Wow."

"Yes, it's one of the few that she will share with me," Hermione added, with a teasing look towards Rose.

"Yes, well, it makes it all the more special, doesn't it?" Rose spoke after swallowing, with a laugh.

"Oh, I see. Rose see's herself as a Muggle Magician," Scorpius commented, sharing a smirk with Rose. "Never revealing her secrets."

"Where's the fun in that?" Rose replied, causing the blond to laugh.

"Excuse me, sorry to interrupt, but could someone explain to me what you are talking about? What's a Muggle Magician?" Ben asked. "Muggles can't do magic."


Albus could tell that Alison was upset and he knew it was his fault. He wasn't acting normal, keeping every conversation short, but he was worried about giving her a hint or something unknowingly. He knew Scorpius was right; how in the world was he going to keep this from her without hurting her or her finding out. Saturday had been great, spectacular in fact, and yet after revealing his plan to his best mate, somehow it felt all the more real. He would be lying if he said he wasn't nervous and a little scared about the whole thing. However, as he looked across the table at Alison, he knew that he would get it right, just for her.

"I really am happy that you worked everything out with Rose," Albus spoke in such a soft and gentle tone that Alison look up at him, adoration in her eyes. That was her Albus, not the cold and distant person for moments ago. "And I also know how worried you are about her, but I am sure that she will be alright."

"Oh, I know she will," Alison replied.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," Alison reassured him with a smile.


After dinner Ben had excused himself to make a Floo call for work, asking Hermione politely if he could use the office fireplace. Ron and Hugo had sat down in the lounge room continuing their discussion about Quidditch from before and after helping clear the table Hermione joined her husband and son, leaving the dishes to Rose and Scorpius. However, with a wave of her wand, Rose had charmed the dishes to wash themselves and she attended to making a cup of tea.

"Tea?" she simply asked, breaking the silence between them.

"Please," Scorpius replied, pulling out a chair and sitting down at the kitchen table. He immediately thought back to the last time he had sat at this particular table, in this room. It was the day he told the Weasley's he was leaving; it was the day that he last gave Hugo some advice in person. 'Advice which he didn't seem to have listened to', Scorpius thought almost bitterly. It was also the day that Ron Weasley had made him feel like he really was apart of the family, for real. He didn't know what he had done, but he didn't feel like that tonight. Ron had been short with him ever since Ben had arrived, and all through dinner, Scorpius couldn't help but feel like he had done something towards Ron, but for the life of him couldn't figure out what it was. 'Maybe he can sense my feelings for Rose and doesn't want me to mess up her relationship with Ben', Scorpius thought. 'Could you blame him, Ben was exactly the type of guy most parents want for their daughter'. Scorpius' thoughts were interrupted by Rose placing his tea in front of him.

"Still one sugar, right?" Rose said confirming what she already knew. How she had picked that up Scorpius didn't know, but his heart skipped a beat just from knowing that she had.

"Yes, how did you know?"

"I have a good memory," she replied with a smile as she leant against the kitchen bench just to the side of the sink, eyes cast down at the cup of tea in her hands. "It's good to know that even though many things change, some stay the same," she added after a beat of silence.

"Yeah," Scorpius mumbled rather confusingly. He definitely liked how she was with him now, but she wasn't really with him so to speak. This confused him; she was kissing another man no less then hour ago, and she said she wanted to be his friend, but he knew there is no way Ben would like that after how he had treated him tonight.

"So, tell me about this project you said you were starting," Rose asked bringing him back from his negative thoughts. He had brought up Albus' project to stop Ben from reminding him of his unemployed state.

"Oh, well it's basically a building project through Albus' work," Scorpius tried to explain without giving away the surprise but also not outright lying. "Kind of like a trial to see if it works, the details are top secret."

"What's the use of us being friends if I'm not allowed to know anything about you, apart from how you like your tea?" Scorpius could tell she wasn't really angry, her tone suggested that she was just messing with him. Her small laugh also gave it away. Nevertheless, he still wanted her to feel like she could know him; in fact, he wanted her to know him better then anyone.

Still keeping his casual, confident tone, he asked, "Well, what do you want to know?"

"Umm…" Rose faked thinking really hard. "Favourite colour?" she finally asked with a small giggle.

"Green," he answered with a smile.

"How very Slytherin of you," she teased back, causing Scorpius to chuckle.

"Yours?" Scorpius asked, quickly. Rose smiled, and took a sip of her tea.

"Blue," she answered, nonchalantly, leaving out the fact that it was the same magnificent blue of his eyes. "What about favourite ice cream flavour?"

"Hokey Pokey."

"Sorry?"

"You've never heard of Hokey Pokey?" Scorpius asked as he leaned forward slightly, shocked.

"No, I can't say that I have," Rose replied, holding back her laughter at his shocked and devastated expression over an ice cream. She had in fact heard of it, she was a qualified chef and baker after all, it was her job to know food.

"Oh, well, I guess it's not as popular over here, but still…" he mumbled to himself. "I'll make sure you try it even if it will be the last thing I ever do," Scorpius added seriously.

"How did you discover this oh-so-good ice cream?"

"New Zealand," he answered. "It is their national ice cream flavour. I was hooked on it for weeks."

"I see," she said in her mocking tone.

"Make fun all you want, but when you try it you'll know what I mean…it is heavenly." The two smiled at each other, before that fell into another silence, sipping their tea. Rose knew what she wanted to ask, it was just about gathering her courage.

"So, Albus mentioned you got serious with someone recently?" she questioned, looking over at him.

Scorpius didn't make eye contact, just simply nodded before adding, "Kind of, but it's over now. It didn't work out."

"Oh," was all she could say. Rose couldn't help but feel the slightest bit of happiness at that information and possibly even relief. She didn't want to push that subject, but again she couldn't stop herself. "What happened?"

"Nothing really," Scorpius muttered before he dared himself to look up at her. "The whole story is a bit complicated, but basically we were never going to work out," he tried to explain. At the perplexed expression on Rose's face, he was encouraged to say more, like he had to justify himself and his feelings. "Don't get me wrong, I love her. We were friends for a long time before we became more, and I am sure she loves me but I don't think we were ever in love with each other." Rose listened to everything he said and didn't know how to react or what to think. It was like she heard him but couldn't really believe it. 'He said "love" not "loved", so did he still love her?' she thought as she settled for quietly sipping her tea. 'But then again he said they were never "in love" and that they were friends. So, does that mean he loves her like a friend or..?'. Breaking her out of her thoughts, Scorpius said, "What about you? You are pretty serious about Ben." Rose felt her throat constricting; she knew that she was not serious about Ben anymore, but she didn't want to let him know that just yet.

"We have been together for a while," she said casually after finding her voice. "He cares about me," she added in a small voice, suddenly feeling guilty. The two slipped into another silence, only the sound of them drinking could be heard, until Scorpius finished his tea and stood from his chair. He quietly moved towards Rose and the sink, which had finished washing the dishes. He rinsed out his cup and with a flick of his wand it and all of the other clean dishes were being put away. He watched everything find its place before he turned to Rose. Their new distance was electrifying yet unnerving at the same time to Rose and she was just trying to calm herself when he spoke again.

"Is he the one?"

"I'm sorry?"

"You know," he replied before raising his hand to his chest over where his heart is. He tapped his fingers against his chest representing a heart beat. "Ba-boom, ba-boom, ba-boom," he whispered in time with his fingers movements. Rose, who had been watching his hand, looked up into his eyes. Their gazed locked; she searched his eyes as he searched hers. It was intense, and she wasn't sure if she liked how it affected her. The spell was broken by the sound of Ben calling Rose's name. Rose had enough time to take a step away from Scorpius, before Ben entered the kitchen. "I'm sorry Rose, but we best be going," he said. "Rose and I both have work tomorrow," he added looking at Scorpius, who was still looking at Rose as she placed her tea cup of the bench behind her.

"I'll just get my bag and say goodbye," she mumbled as she walked past Ben, leaving the kitchen. Scorpius made to follow her, but Ben stepped into his path.

"I don't know what you think you're doing coming back here, but stay away from Rose," he whispered as menacingly as one could looking up at someone who was significantly taller and stronger then themselves. Scorpius' blood boiled; he wanted nothing more in that moment then to punch the brunette's face in, but he knew that would just help Ben in the long run. Scorpius took a step away for the other man, calming himself down. He was finding it insanely difficult. However, when he spoke, it was in a composed and firm tone.

"I have spent three and a half years away from her, which is quite enough. I am here to stay Ben. So, if that is going to be problem for you than I suggest that you suck it up and deal with it because like I said, I'm not going anywhere." Both men just glared at each other.

"Okay, I'm ready," Rose said entering the kitchen. Her eyes darted between the two men in a staring contest with fear. However, before she could really do or say anything, Ben's expression transformed into a smile. A fake one, but a smile nonetheless.

"Good, me too," he said, turning to face her. She cautiously returned his smile, as he moved to guide her towards the back door. Rose stop just before leaving and turned back to Scorpius.

"I'll see you at Little Baby Lupin's naming ceremony?" she said smiling back at him.

"Ah…yeah…of course," he stuttered, a bit surprise by her actions, before returning her smile with one of his own. With that she nodded and turned around, allowing Ben to lead her out the door before they both Disapparated.


So, I am back and I can't say I am sorry enough to make up for it so I am just going to hope you liked this chapter. Please leave me some reviews, I really want to know what you think.