Chapter 11: Third Floor

"Albus Severus Potter! It is time for us to plan our wedding. We have waited long enough and I understand we wanted to make sure we were going to be fine with work and then we got Andrew, but the time is now! I don't want to wait any longer."

The sound of his fiancé's raised voice woke Albus from his sleep. He barely had time to adjust his eyes to the light that was pouring into the room.

Blinking rapidly to get his eyesight to adapt, he rolled over and heard a crunching noise on the bed.

"Scor what is all of this?"

"This... is a pile of wedding magazines. Lisa gave them to me last night after my shift at the hospital. Mostly they are all muggle related, but I think they will come in handy." Scorpius' eyes scanned the bed before finding a particularly thick book and flipping through the pages he had already color-coded. "Look, this one has such cute flower arrangements for the tables. The book even says guests can take them home if they want to. That would be lovely, and I'm sure your sister and Aunt Luna would love that."

Albus choose not to look at the magazine with the different floral arrangements. Instead, he sat upright, stretched his arms, and pulled out his wand so he could recite a spell to fill his glass with water.

"Also... Al, are you listening?" Albus nodded, his eyes still half closed, "Also, we can enchant some floating lights as the muggle did in this book, and have the guests write wishes on them. They are supposed to float to the sky and their wishes come true. I am not sure how that one works, but I am sure Lisa can explain it to me better. What do you think?"

"Scorpius, love. I thought we agreed to have a small wedding. It's starting to sound like you've changed your mind."

For the first time that morning, Scorpius put the magazines down and looked over at the man sitting next to him in the bed, "I still want something small and intimate. This is a bit much, I agree. I just getting anxious."

"How come?"

"We have been engaged for nearly a year, and we have made no plans. I am honestly not sure how we have avoided both my dad and your parents this long..." Scorpius and Albus both took a second to ponder that. They were both used to their respective parents going overboard and taking control of any major family events. "I want to be married to you. And I don't want to wait any longer."

Albus remained silent. He moved a few inches over to his partner and kissed his bare shoulder, just then taking in the sight of him without a shirt on.

"I don't want to wait either. I was waiting around for you to have a Scorpius meltdown so we could get planning. I honestly expected one bigger than this."

Even though Albus chuckled, Scorpius looked confused, "what are you talking about? What is a Scorpius meltdown?"

"That my love, is when you finally explode with all the things you have been holding onto inside that brain of yours. Typically when you are frustrated or want someone to do something and you are tired of beating around the bush."

Scorpius remained silent. Though he didn't agree with Albus and his melt-down theory, he figured if anyone would know it would be his best friend.

"It's very charming, I assure you. Even James thinks so. Getting back to the issue at hand, I am ready and I have been ready to officially make you my husband. I don't care about the timing or any of the other stuff. We could literally run to the Ministry today. Just you, me, and Andy and that would be alright with me."

"But our families would be so cross with us. Oh, I couldn't bare it." Scorpius had a goofy smile on his face thinking about Albus wanting to be his husband at all costs, even that of the raft of their families.

"You are correct. But it's a risk I can take." Albus shrugged his shoulders. Even though he knew he would be cursed by both his mother and Draco. He did have to admit the idea of skipping all this wedding planning was almost making it sound worth it. "I am only choosing not to do that plan because I do not want to rob you of a magical night, that will surely be our wedding."

"That is terribly sweet of you. But that still brings us back to the need to start planning. I was thinking we can owl your mum and my dad and let them know we are ready to get started with the wedding plans. I think they would both be willing to-"

"GOOD MORNING!" Andrew's tiny hand swung the men's bedroom door wide open as he jumped on top of the bed and smiled at them.

Albus was momentarily glad he and Scorpius weren't in a compromising position when the tiny intruder entered the room.

"Everyone in the family is so loud today. Good morning Andrew, did you sleep well?" Albus asked the tiny boy.

"Yup. What's all of this stuff on you guys' bed? Are you doing work? Gabe said sometimes his mummy and daddy have to do work when they come home too."

Scorpius chuckled and started collecting the magazines from the bed so they wouldn't get crushed. It wasn't as if his fiancé had shown any interest in wanting to see them. "No bug, we are looking at options for our wedding."

"You and Albus are going to get a wedding?" The boy looked confused, which caused Scorpius to also look confused at Albus.

"Married." Albus laughed at the three-year-old, "Me and Scor are going to have a wedding so we can get married. When two people love each other they often get married. And have a family. I mean there is more stuff involved but it's boring grown-up stuff." Albus stated.

Andrew still didn't look convinced, "Well if you get married what happens to me? Do I have to go away and find people to keep me that are not married?"

Scorpius in a panic reached for the boy and brought him to his chest, "oh dear no! You are staying with us. Like Al said, people who love each get married and start having a family. Luckily for us, we got to start our family early with you. So now we just have to get married and we will be complete."

For Now. Scorpius thought.

Since getting Andrew, he wondered if he and Albus would talk about having more children someday in the future. He wasn't too concerned about how that would come about, but he'd always imagined that he would have a few kids. When he was younger, he wished that he had siblings to do fun things with.

"Are you sure? I don't want a new again home. I likes this one." Scorpius' attention was brought back to the child leaning on his chest and the little arms that were wrapped around him.

"I promise little one. You are here with us now. So there is nothing to worry about."

Albus smiled at the two of them. He truly appreciated the stability and calm Scorpius brought to their family.

Albus stood up and got out of bed, deciding it was time to get the day started. He walked over to Scorpius's side of the bed and lifted the now giggling boy out of his partner's arms. He had missed the joke shared between the two of them.

"Andy and I are going to head downstairs to make breakfast. Send an owl to your dad and my mum, and tell them we are ready to get this show on the road."

"Do I get to go to Ginny's house today?" Andrew asked excited to make food.

"Nope, you are going to Teddy's. He took off work today. You, him, and Gabe are going to his grandmother's house to go through some of his old stuff in the room."

Scorpius looked over at Albus, as this was the first time he was hearing of this news.

Albus nodded to confirm, "I guess Andromeda wants to use his old space for one of her new crafts. It's admirable that she is still so active." Albus shrugged, "Get dressed babe, we have to get to work."

"Oh posh, you're just rushing me so you and Jane can gossip."

"Doesn't matter what my motivations are, we still need to leave soon." With that Albus blew a kiss at Scorpius which caused Andrew to copy him, and the couple erupted in laughter.

Scorpius loved the idea of a big wedding. Not only did it allow for various decoration opportunities, but the more people involved the more people there were to see his love and devotion for Albus.

Albus was more than the love of his life, he was also his first and best friend. The two of them had been together for ages and had shared many of their firsts. They were both similar and different, and Scorpius loved the balance they brought into their lives. He truly felt that was worth showing to as many people as possible.

Moreover, he has already agreed with his fiancé to keep the wedding small and Scorpius knew that was the better idea. Besides he had his whole life to show off his husband.

My husband, the tall man smiled to himself.

"Scorpius, I know your shift is almost over but there is a new patient, who came in a little bit ago about some kind of potion poison. The poor bloke claims he took the wrong thing and is experiencing a horrible headache. Do you think you can take a look at him? Shouldn't be too bad."

Scorpius looked up from his filing at his desk and smiled at a frazzled-looking Lisa. She had just recently become the mid-day manager for the third-floor potions and poisoning department.

The third floor, like all the others, stayed rather busy, but there were times when it could be slow. Today was one of the quiet ones. Scorpius had only dealt with patients that had been admitted the previous few days so he didn't mind taking on the extra case before he was scheduled to leave.

"Sure Lisa." Scorpius rose out of his chair and was handed a paper that told him to go to room 115. "By the way, you are doing an excellent job."

Lisa finally looked up from her clipboard and smiled, "Thanks love, it isn't as bad as I had thought. But there is a ton of paperwork and protocols to follow. Oh! Did you and Albus look through the magazines I gave you?"

"We... Well, I did. There was some excellent stuff. I have them all marked up. We have decided to still keep things intimate, but I am going to bring the magazines to my Dad and Albus' mum. I'm sure they can work with what I have in my head on a small scale."

"That's great. I hope to get an invite soon! Once you are finished with room 115, head home." Scorpius looked over at the hanging clock to his right, "are you sure? I don't mind-"

"Nope, leave. Save yourself. I'll see you bright and early tomorrow" Lisa interrupted and waved as she walked down the hall.

"Alright, room 115, let's see what we got going on," Scorpius said to himself.

He made his way down the hall looking over the chart he was handed only a moment ago. It was very vague for someone who had consumed the wrong potions. This wasn't too odd, as most people who have been poisoned don't get a chance to immediately get all their information on their check-in documents until after they have been healed.

What was odd was that the wizard who filled out the documents didn't include their last name or the name of the potions he had consumed. Which was basic information any healer would have needed.

"Hello, Mr. Leon. My name is Healer Malfoy and I am going to be helping you today. I see here that you took some incorrect potions, and you are experiencing a headache. Is that correct?"

The name laying on the bed, had his eyes closed. Scorpius also noticed he didn't wear robes, but more casual muggle clothing. The middle-aged man wore jeans with holes in them and a plaid shirt with a jacket on the top.

Leon nodded slowly and Scorpius took notes.

"Okay, and I am assuming this happened at your home? You are not dressed in work robes so it was not a work-related mix-up." Again Scorpius waited for a response and only received a nod.

"Okay, I am going to take out my wand and do a routine checkup to see if I can detect what kind of potion poisoning you were exposed to. This may tingle a bit, but it should pass rather quickly."

Instead of waiting for a verbal response, that the tall blonde knew he wouldn't get, he took out his wand and cast the check-over spell.

The tip of his wand glowed a sliver color for a few minutes, but nothing was detected. "Mr. Leon, I am going to try the spell one more time. Sometimes if the potions are faint they do not appear in the check." Trying again, Scorpius directed his wand in front of the man and held his arm steady.

Once again the check came back clear.

"Mr. Leon, I am sorry but nothing is coming up in your system. Can you please tell me what you think you might have taken?"

The man groaned and moved his hand from in front of his eyes. When he opened them, his eyes shined a dull grey. Scorpius had to admit the man was handsome for his age. His hair was jet black, had a slight wave to it, and was only barely beginning to grey around the edges.

"I am not sure what I took," he spoke slowly. "I woke up in my... uh home and there were tons of potion bottles around me, unlabeled."

"And you cannot remember where they came from?" Scorpius asked taking notes as the man spoke, trying to fill his chart as much as possible.

"No. I honestly can't remember anything from the last few weeks or maybe even a month."

Scorpius look curiously at the man and stopped writing, "I am sorry to hear that Mr. Leon. I am going to go and find my boss. I believe that you need to be moved to the fourth floor. That is the treatment of spell damage. Upstairs, they deal with: unliftable jinxes, hexes, curses, and incorrectly-applied charms. I believe one of these may be your issue."

Scorpius, looked over at the man once more, expecting him to ask questions about the department relocation, but he didn't. He just placed his hands back in front of his eyes, shielding them from the light.

"Someone will be right in to move you. I will tell them it is urgent. I hope you feel better soon Mr. Leon."

Scorpius walked over to the door and had his hand on the knob when he heard the man clear his throat.

"What did you say your name was?"

The tall man turned around and caught the eyes of the older man and smiled politely, "Healer Malfoy. Scorpius Malfoy."

The man looked at him as if he wanted to ask another question, but decided against it. He nodded, thanked him under his breath and Scorpius exited the room to inform Lisa of the patient's misplacement before heading home.

"I am telling you, Al, there are much better things you can be feeding your son. You should look into the natural stores and ingredients I have written down for you. The body is a temple and it

starts with what we put into it." Lily's voice could be heard the moment Scorpius apparated into the apartment.

He heard Albus reply about the price of food, and not being willing to spend that much on food that wouldn't last. More importantly, he doubted a three-year-old would eat it.

"Hello everyone. I'm home." Scorpius came into the kitchen with his shoes off and walked straight over to Albus' little sister. "Lil it is great to see you. Are you staying for dinner?"

"Scorp! Please tell my brother the benefits of natural foods and how the switch for your family will not be as bad as he believes."

Scorpius giggled and walked over to Albus giving him a quick kiss on the lips, "she has a point." Scorpius took a spoon and stirred the pasta in the pot next to his fiancé. Everything in the kitchen smelled great.

"Tell my sister, that if she buys the food for us, then I would be more than happy to prepare it. We live too far from any store to do this so-called switch she is nagging me about." Albus took the spoon from Scorpius and turned off the stove.

"I'm afraid Albus also makes a great point Lily. We live quite far from those natural stores. Even though they do have some good options."

"Suit yourselves. I'll help set the table, this conversation is not over. Three settings are enough right Alby?"

"Yes Lils, everything is in the dining room. Thanks for helping."
Lily bounced out of the kitchen and made her way to set the table in the family room.
"Where's Andrew?" Scorpius asked curiously as he took a glass and filled it with water to drink.

Albus drained the pasta, "he is staying with Teddy and Gabe today. I guess there was more stuff at Andromeda's than he had anticipated. They have to go back tomorrow to finish up. When I got there to pick Andrew up, he was already asleep in Gabe's room. Vic said it was best to leave them and get him tomorrow after we got off work."

"Oh, I am sure Andrew and Gabe are happy about that. They have been begging to have another sleepover since the one a few weeks ago once the Lupin's got back in town."

"Exactly. We can pick him up together tomorrow then head to your dad's for dinner. I'm happy tomorrow is Friday."

Scorpius silently agreed, and Albus continued, "plus I am still tired from being woken up this morning and being yelled at by my fiancé and child."

"Don't be a drama queen." Scorpius moved closed to Albus and kissed his cheek, "how was work today? What did Jane say about her and James'... what is it fifth date? I am ashamed to say I am extremely invested in their relationship."

Once the two were separated, Albus handed Scorpius the bread and proceeded to pick up the pasta dish he had just completed, "Well from what she said it seems to be-"

"WAIT! Don't tell him anything until we are all sitting down. I want to hear too. James has been so dodgy about him and Jane." Lily poked her head into the kitchen warning her older brother.

Albus rolled his eyes, and Scorpius laughed taking the bread from his hands, kissing his cheeks, and heading into the dining room so they could sit down for dinner.

Thanks for reading! Update on Thursday. Jazz.