Thanks for sticking it with this! The chapters following this start including content that I never posted because it was either unfinished or not written when this was originally published. Enjoy!
The next two weeks pass at a snail's pace. Things are still awkward between Rose and Scorpius, but they are better than they were. He reminds her to eat as her appetite wanes and follows her out of class whenever she needs to go to the loo to throw up. He holds her hair away from her face and rubs her back until she's done. He makes sure she gets any notes she misses, and they resume studying and doing homework together. He checks on her around 9:00 at night to make sure she is at least thinking about going to bed early.
Hogsmeade weekend finally comes. Scorpius can't go, because he has a potion to finish for class the next day, but asks Rose to wait until he is finished later that night before taking the potion. She isn't planning on it.
Rose enters the apothecary feeling more frightened than she can ever remember feeling. She approaches the store girl and stumbles over her request.
"Hello… um- I need a potion to get rid of… well, you know." Rose stares at her willing her to understand. The cashier looks at her expectantly. "To get rid of a… baby?"
The girl at the cash register couldn't be a more than a few years older than Rose, and gives her a sympathetic look. "Of course, dear," she says, reaching under the counter for an abortive potion. "Read the directions carefully. You'll need some eye of newt. Do you have any or do you need to buy some?" Rose tells her she needs some and the girl adds it to her order. Rose hands her the money and leaves the store.
When she exits into the cold November air, Rose is surprised to see Scorpius leaning against the side of the building. He stands up straight when he sees her and gives a little wave. Rose smiles slightly.
"What are you doing here? I thought you had to finish your potion?"
Scorpius shrugs, "I'll take the poor grade. I knew you needed me more."
"Thanks."
"Do you have it?"
"Yes."
"Should we head back to the castle?" Rose nods wordlessly and the begin their walk back. All the while, Rose keeps running over things in her head. Things will be better off. It's only a matter of minutes now. In less than a half hour, her problems will be over and she can get back on with life. The ball of dread in her stomach does not go away.
Scorpius isn't talking either. Rose can tell his mind is just as distracted as her own. When they reach the Ravenclaw common room, he takes her hand before they head to her dorm. Her dorm room is blessedly empty, as the rest of the school is still at Hogsmeade.
Rose takes the potion out of her coat and reads the label. WARNING: Do not take if you are more than 16 weeks into your pregnancy.
"How far are you?" Scorpius asks, reading over her shoulder.
"Almost 10 weeks."
"I heard healers can find out the gender at 14 weeks," Scorpius tells her.
She gives him a look over her shoulder. "I know," she says quietly.
Directions: Open bottle. Insert fresh eye of newt. Shake thoroughly. Scorpius hands her the eye of newt and Rose places it inside the bottle before shaking it. Drink half the bottle. Some cramping and bleeding should start with in 5 to 10 minutes. If not, drink the rest of the bottle after 30 minutes.
Rose opens the bottle and lifts it to her lips. She can feel Scorpius tense behind her. Just drink it and this will all be over. The tears start to fall.
"Fuck," Rose sighs, dropping back onto her bed.
"What is it Rose?" Scorpius asks, settling down next to her.
"I don't think I can do this," she cries, still holding the bottle. Scorpius drops his head onto her shoulder.
"Thank Merlin," he says to her. Her shoulders shake and he puts his arms around her.
"I just want this to be over," Rose sobs, "I just want it to end. I wish it had never happened."
She can feel Scorpius tense and he whispers into her hair, "I know you do."
"But, I just can't take the potion. I can't explain it Scorpius. I can't do it."
"That's okay Rosie," he holds her closer. "This is your choice. You don't have to do anything you don't want to do." He vanishes the potion.
They sit there for a long time, with Rose crying and Scorpius holding her up.
OoOoO
"Rosie, don't make me. I can't do it."
"Scorpius Malfoy!" Rose bellows, "You are coming home with me at Christmas to help me tell my parents about our baby and that is final!"
Scorpius flinches at her tone.
"Rose, I've told you already, my mum and dad want me home right when breaks starts because they've got something important to discuss with me-"
"I think we have something MORE important to discuss with my parents! Do you have any idea how difficult this is to go through without you acting like a sniveling wimp? It's bloody hard. I don't care how afraid you are of my father and I don't care about what your parents have to discuss with you!" Rose takes a deep breath to try to calm herself down. It doesn't do much good. "I am not telling my parents that I'm pregnant alone. You said you would help me through this so you'll bloody well help me through this."
Scorpius' rolls his eyes. "Alright," he says, "on one condition."
"You really think you get to give me conditions about this?"
"If I'm going to risk my bloody neck telling your father that you are pregnant by me, then yes, I do think I get to give you conditions." It's her turn to roll her eyes.
"Fine."
"You'll have to come to the manor for Christmas dinner to tell my parents."
Rose's face goes white. "Scorpius, no."
"Now, now Rose," he says, grinning like a shark. "Don't be a… what was it you called me? Oh yes, 'sniveling wimp.'"
OoOoO
Scorpius Malfoy was very afraid of Ron Weasley, and for good reason too. The man was furious when Rose came home for winter break her first year telling him all about her new best friend Scorpius Malfoy. He had immediately sent a howler to Malfoy manner, which screamed at Draco Malfoy in the middle of dinner about how he had better keep his son away from Rose. Every time Scorpius went to visit Rose during holidays, he faced the wrath of Ron Weasley, sneering at him and treating him like he, not his father, had tried to kill Albus Dumbledore. Hermione Granger-Weasley had always been kind and did her best to keep Ron from sending a nasty hex his way. But Scorpius Malfoy, who had never done anything to hurt Rose in the past, still received a surplus of hatred. He couldn't imagine what he would be met with when it came out that he and Rose had not only slept together, but had gotten pregnant.
At the same time, Rose Weasley was very afraid of Draco Malfoy. She had been afraid of him since before she had met Scorpius. Even at eleven years old, Rose had heard the stories of the war and her parents' time at Hogwarts with the elder Malfoy. Rose knew the things he did back then and how he had tortured her parents before that. Her father had brought up the awful names he used to call her mother. When Rose came home from school with news that her new best friend was Scorpius Malfoy, the details in the stories became more embellished, so much so that by the time Rose was going to visit Scorpius at Malfoy Manor the summer between first and second year, the stories her father told her had basically set Draco Malfoy at the same level of evil as Voldemort himself.
But Rose's biggest concern about telling him about the pregnancy, was that Draco Malfoy had actually explicitly told her not to have sex with his son.
Her first visit to the manor, her mother apparated her over, since her father had been working. In hindsight, the time of her visit may have been intentionally planned that way. Hermione Granger-Weasley walked Rose only to the door and deposited her in the care of Astoria Malfoy, before telling Rose to floo call if she wanted to leave early and disapparating. Astoria Malfoy simply put a boney hand on Rose's shoulder and led her into the manor without a word.
Scorpius was waiting in the foyer, his face strangely devoid of emotion.
"Welcome, Rose," he said, nodding politely. "Mother, may Rose and I go up to my room to play?"
"Yes, Scorpius. Someone will be by in a few hours to bring you to lunch. Behave," she gives him a severe look, then turns and walks away briskly.
Scorpius grabbed Rose's hand and ran with her to his room, where he was back to his normal self.
"Your mother's a little strange," Rose tells him.
"You're telling me," Scorpius says rolling his eyes. "This whole place is strange."
After a few hours of playing and laughing together a house elf came to bring them down to the dining room for lunch. As they get to the bottom of the stairs, Rose noticed a cold, tall man waiting for them. This could only be Draco Malfoy.
"You must be Miss Weasley," he says, with a slight smirk.
"Yes, sir," Rose tells him nervously.
"Come, let's talk for a moment before eating," he gestures to the doorway on his right.
Rose shoots Scorpius a pleading look to save her, but he gives a little shrug and enters the dining room, leaving Rose alone with his father.
They appear to be in an office. There is a large desk in the center of the room with two chairs across from it, one of which Mr. Malfoy indicates Rose should sit in. A bookshelf covers one wall while the rest are covered in artwork.
"May I be frank, Miss Weasley?" Draco asks from his seat behind his desk. He doesn't give Rose the chance to answer. "I don't like your family. I despise your father. I'm certainly not fond of you. And I don't like this strange interest my son has taken in you. If he wants to be friends with you, that's his business I suppose. But if I detect any… funny business between the two of you, I will not tolerate it. The Malfoy name will not be tarnished by the likes of a Weasley. Do you understand?"
Even at 12, Rose had a pretty good idea what he meant. She nodded, ate lunch with them in silence, and left soon after when her mother came for her. She hadn't told anyone what Draco Malfoy had said to her that day. Rose thought about that day before any visit she made to the manor. What an odd thing to say to a twelve-year-old, she had always thought, but now she wondered if Draco Malfoy might have a touch of the sight in him considering the news she and Scorpius would be sharing with the Malfoys on Christmas day.
OoOoO
"Alright, Scorpius," Rose, "I'll come with you to tell your parents that I'm pregnant with your child if you come with me to tell my parents. Deal?"
"You make it sound like this is completely my fault with all that "your child" bullshit."
"It is your fault. Now is it a deal?" Rose huffs at him.
"I don't know. If you really feel that strongly about this being my fault, I'm not sure if I want to…"
"Scorpius, I swear to Merlin I will bloody murder you if you keep this up."
"But if you murder me, who will help you care for our child?"
Rose suddenly felt nervous. "Scorpius, I never said I was keeping the baby."
"You're not?" he looks surprised.
"No. What does this have to do with anything anyway? Just say we have a deal."
"Well what are you going to do?"
"That's not the issue right now. We're talking about going to see our parents together to tell them about this whole mess."
"Alright, Rose, you win," he says dramatically. "I'll come with you to tell your parents about our baby as long as you come with me to tell my parents about our baby."
"Perfect!" Rose shouts. "Now, we have to make sure no one finds out about this until after we go home for Christmas break. Our parents cannot find this out before we tell them. We don't need that type of mess."
"You're right about that," Scorpius laughs, but his heart doesn't seem in it.
"So," Scorpius starts, "back to what you were saying before about not keeping the baby. What do you mean?"
"Adoption of course…" Rose trails off. Was that a cough?
"Rose, look-"
"Shh!" Rose says. There it is again. Another cough.
"Rose? What's going-"
"Shut. Up," she hisses. "There's someone else in here."
"I guess Moaning Myrtle stopped doing her job of haunting this place."
Slowly, Rose tiptoes across the tile floor, looking under each stall door. In the second to last stall she sees them. A pair of bright pink ballet flats.
"Diffindo!" Rose kicks open the door.
Someone screams.
Her charm successfully severed the lock and allowed the door to open into the person whose hiding in the stall.
Rose freezes. Standing in the stall is none other than Lucy Weasley.
And she's going to tell.
"Oh shit."
"Scorpius, watch your language. She's only eleven! Lucy'll repeat anything she hears."
"You mean like the fact that you're pregnant?"
"Scorpius, shut up." Rose turns back to Lucy. "Luce, you're not gonna tell anyone, right?"
Lucy's eyes are all wide. She looks terrified.
"Lucy…"
"Well…" Lucy says, "Am I not supposed to tell anyone?"
"No, you're not supposed to tell anyone," Rose tells her kindly.
"Not even Roxie? If I tell her, maybe she'll let me put on her makeup. She likes to know secrets…"
"No, you can't tell Roxie."
"What about Hugo?"
"No."
"Lily?"
"You may not tell anyone in our family," Rose tells her with a thin smile.
"You can't tell anyone at all actually," Scorpius clarifies.
Rose walks up behind Lucy and put her hands on the younger girl's shoulders and catches her eyes in the mirror.
"Lucy, I need you to promise me that you won't tell anyone about what you heard in here. If you do, it could be very bad for me and Scorpius."
"What do I get if I don't tell?"
"What?"
"Well, if I tell Roxie, she'll probably put makeup on me and let me wear her shoes for a little while. What will you do for me if I don't tell her?"
"Umm…" Think fast, think fast, think fast, think fast. "I'll do your makeup and let you wear my shoes!"
Lucy just cocks an eyebrow.
"Why would I want that?"
Scorpius snickers. Bastard.
"Lucy, look, I'll… let you have my old broom!"
"Why would I want an old clunker? Give me your Nimbus 2045 and we have a deal."
Rose groans internally. Her parents had just bought it for her on her last birthday. She looks at Scorpius, desperately, who rolls his eyes and steps in.
"What if I buy you a broom? I'll get you a Nimbus 2047. Brand new," he says.
Lucy takes a moment to pretend to think about it. Then she shakes her head.
"No. I don't think so. I want Rose's broom."
"Fine," Rose says, giving in. She won't be able to ride a broom for a few months anyway.
"Also," she says, "you have to convince my dad to let me have a boyfriend."
"What do you need a boyfriend for? You're eleven!" Scorpius says, incredulous.
Rose sighs, "What if I try my best? You know it'll be hard to convince Uncle Percy. Molly wasn't allowed one until fifth year."
"Alright. That'll do." She smiles brightly. "We have a deal." She shakes both Rose's and Scorpius' hand before leaving the bathroom with a skip in her step.
Scorpius smiles at Rose. "I'll buy you a replacement broom after everything settles down."
"Shut up, Malfoy."
He doesn't.
OoOoO
Rose had a difficult week following the incident with Lucy in the bathroom. She threw up in the middle of Potions class and Professor Nott had Gianna Thomas walk her down to the infirmary. Rose spent an awkward conversation with Madame Pomfrey explaining that she was feeling better and not to run any tests. Pomfrey finally let up when Scorpius came to the infirmary claiming to have also thrown up, citing a bit of bad pumpkin juice at breakfast as the cause. This led the witch to believe that food poisoning was also the reason for Rose's stomach issues. She gave them both a pepper up potion and called down to the kitchens to have them get rid of the rest of the pumpkin juice to avoid any more illness.
On their way back to class, Scorpius brought up Rose's plans for once the baby came. Again.
"So Rose, you're really thinking adoption?"
"Yes, Scor," she sighs. "That is the plan."
"I'm just not sure that's the best idea…"
"Then what is the best idea?" Rose says rounding on him. "What is your plan instead? You have yet to present one to me, but please, I'm all ears."
"Rose, I don't know," he says, but Rose has a strong feeling he does know.
"Well until you do, I'm done discussing it with you," Rose tells him, hurrying back to class.
Scorpius bothers her about other things as well. He keeps reminding her to eat something other than sweets at every meal. She should be eating more vegetables. He also pesters her about eating more, as she was still very thin from her morning sickness. Rose finally told him if he said one more thing to her about her eating habits she would shove his precious vegetables somewhere very unpleasant.
Much spare time was spent trying to keep Lucy from spilling their secret. Rose's parents were taking a very long time to send her broom through the post and Lucy was getting inpatient.
Rose is thankful when the weekend finally comes. She plans to spend her Saturday studying in the morning and relaxing for the remainder of the day. She squeezes between Louis and Scorpius at the Gryffindor table and starts piling pancakes on her plate. Scorpius places a bowl full of berries next to her plate without a word. Rose ignores this and focuses on their plans for the day.
The owls come flying into the Great Hall to bring the post. Rose looks up expectantly hoping that her parents had finally sent the broom. She was really worried about Lucy opening her mouth. She spots her father's brown barn owl, Gulliver, but he is carrying no broom. Instead he drops two letters in front of Rose, which land directly in the syrup still left on her plate. Rose immediately recognizes the blood red envelope resting on top. Her body goes cold and her hand reaches for Scorpius' arm.
"Scorp," Rose whispers, digging her fingernails into him.
He looks at her in confusion before following her gaze. He realizes what it is too. Quickly, he grabs the two letters, pulls Rose up from the table, and rushes them out of the dining hall. They are barely into the entrance hall when the howler finally bursts open.
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