"She was here every hour of the day," Astoria said gently as she sat next to Scorpius on the bed. "Before we got in, after we left," she smiled and patted her son's cheek. "A very dedicated Healer." Draco nodded from Scorpius's other side but didn't chime in because the door burst open and several people walked through.

"Scorpius!"

"Are you okay?"

"You look bloody terrible!"

"Oi," Scorpius frowned. "That's very rude to say to someone who very nearly could have died."

"Pish posh," Lily grinned at him. "Uncle Charlie's always getting mauled by dragons and he's still alive to tell the tale!"

"I really hope you meant tail, Lils," Fred groaned.

"Or what a missed pun-opportunity," James finished.

"Punpportunity?" Fred asked.

"No," Albus rolled his bright green eyes and put his hand gently on his best friend's shoulder. "How are ya, mate?"

"I'm alright," Scorpius smiled at them all. "Bloody glad to see you lot."

"Roxanne and Dominique send their love, but they've got practice and will be by later," Lily started.

"Once I'm out," Scorpius finished for her. "I'll be out soon enough. I don't want everyone taking time out of their -"

"Don't be a twat," Lily rolled her eyes before James could interrupt her.

"An illegal dragon ring, eh?" James asked with a glint in his eye. "How very exciting."

"Yes," Walter was in the room now too. "It was dangerous and -"

"Not nearly as exciting as you think," Scorpius scoffed. "One rogue dragon will really put a damper on things -"

"Now that's definitely a pun," Fred grinned.

"I'm glad to see you're all right," Albus said sincerely to Scorpius before glancing at the door. "I'll be back in a few, yea?"

Scorpius nodded, slightly confused. "Sure," he agreed.

"Off to see Rose?" Lily asked. "Have you seen how big her office is yet?"

"Oh," James piped up. "I'd love to see it, actually."

"I'm sure she's busy," Albus tried to say gently to his brother. "She's been here nearly day and night the past few days," his bright green eyes glanced back to Scorpius as he walked out the door. "I'll tell her you all say hello."

Scorpius avoided his parents' eyes and swallowed. "Well, tell me what's been going on, won't you? What have I missed?"

Albus frowned when he saw that Rose's office's door was closed and he could see the room was dark through the small window in the door. He saw a Mediwitch walking down the hall and he waved to her, "Have you seen Healer Weasley?"

The older woman smiled, "She's finally gone home for the day, dearie. I'm sure she'll be back tomorrow to check on her patients. She's been here day and night, that one. A very important person I think was here, between you and me." She winked and continued walking down the hall.

"Thanks," Albus called out after her with another frown as he walked back towards Scorpius' room.

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Rose woke up earlier than she had anticipated and decided to go to St. Mungo's before her shift began to check on Scorpius before visiting hours; it would be easier to run any diagnostics without his parents or her family there.

"You shouldn't be standing." The words were out of her mouth before she had even walked in the room, and before she could stop herself she smiled at Scorpius' look of absolute fear at being caught.

"I, I, uh -" he mumbled as he turned slowly back towards the bed. "Bored?" He tried to offer as an explanation.

Rose crossed her arms in front of her, "And?"

Scorpius sat on the bed with as little grace as he could muster, "And what?"

Rose shook her head, her box braids falling off her shoulder as she tried to hide another smile, "How does it feel to be up and about?" She walked towards him on the bed. "Pain? Soreness? Tiring quickly?" He opened his mouth to respond and Rose saw the smugness creeping into his expression, "I'm your Healer, Mr. Malfoy, and I need you to be honest or you won't recover properly." His mouth snapped shut.

"I walked to the door and back," his voice was strong but gentle. "I'm not too tired."

Rose tilted her head slightly, her eyes watching Scorpius closely, "Did you walk yesterday? How many visitors did you have? Did they -"

"I only tried this morning because I was bored," Scorpius interrupted her. "Finished breakfast, was bored of sitting around. I wasn't overtired from the debrief and visitors, I'm feeling better, I'm itching to -"

"Leave," Rose finished for him. "I'm sure you are," she smirked slightly and walked towards the bed, waving her wand over him. "You'll be able to leave soon, but we still need to monitor you."

"And home visits by Healers is totally out of the question?" Scorpius arched a blonde eyebrow and grinned when Rose met his eyes.

"I'm very busy and very important, Mr. Malfoy," Rose said haughtily. "At-home visits are well beneath my pay grade."

"Of course, of course, I didn't mean to -"

"Scorpius!" Someone shouted as they burst through the door. "Were you injured by a dragon while you were trying to -"

"Thomasin," Scorpius lay his head back on his pillow with a groan, his eyes closed. "I've told you -"

"An illegal magical creatures ring, come on, that's," Thomasin continued, approaching the bed, but she stopped abruptly when Rose stood in her way. "Rose, come on, I," Thomasin stumbled over the words and Scorpius opened his eyes and sat back up to see Rose towering over Thomasin.

"It's Healer Weasley," Rose nearly growled in a low voice. "And you, Ms. Smith, need to leave."

"But," she tried to peer around Rose. "I want to talk to Scorpius about -"

"Mr. Malfoy is my patient," Rose's voice was so soft that it made Scorpius nervous she could explode at any moment. "And I'm telling you to leave."

"But," Thomasin's voice was small and desperate.

"I will have you escorted out," Rose continued, her voice ice. "If you don't leave of your own accord."

"Can I come back when it's -" Thomasin tried to sound brave.

"You are not permitted in this room during visiting hours," Rose took a step towards Thomasin who took a step backwards. "You are not permitted to harass my patient -"

"I'm not," Thomasin cut in and from the way she cowered, Scorpius could tell she immediately regretted it.

"I will ban you from St. Mungo's," Rose's voice was even. "Leave. Now."

Thomasin didn't say another word and hurried out of the door without a glance at Scorpius, her shoes squeaking against the tiles as she sped up down the hall. Scorpius watched as Rose took a deep breath, letting her shoulders drop slightly before she turned slowly around, her face composed, her box braids behind her shoulders. "I'm sorry," Rose started, her voice soft. "Someone should have stopped her at the front desk, I'll have a word with the staff out there. Reporters aren't allowed -"

"That was absolutely terrifying," Scorpius cut her off, his grey eyes wide. "No one's ever shut her up before."

Rose snorted, "She argued quite a bit."

"I mean, I can't even get her to leave me alone when she thinks she's got a lead," Scorpius shook his head. "And it's illegal for me to talk to her. You," he shook his head. "You didn't even raise your voice and yet I feared for my life."

"I was Head Girl for a reason, Malfoy," Rose smirked but Scorpius could see there was some color on her cheeks. "Now, as I was saying before we were rudely interrupted, if you continue to progress like this, with ample rest, we should have you out in a few days."

"And back in the field?" Scorpius looked hopeful.

"We'll need to do another evaluation before that," Rose said gently. "A week's time after you're released."

Scorpius sighed, "Plenty of paperwork to do during that week, I reckon."

"Good," Rose nodded. "Now, if you're all settled, I'll leave you to it." She watched as Scorpius's face fell. "Visiting hours are soon, and I've got a few more patients to attend to," she smiled kindly at him. "I've got a Muggle paper in my office I can bring you, if you'd like?"

"Oh," Scorpius looked back up at her. "You don't mind?"

"Not at all," Rose grinned. "Back in a jiff."

Rose walked to her office, trying not to frown. Why was she being so bloody nice to Scorpius? Why did she care he looked so sad to be left alone again? Why had Thomasin been so persistent in getting a story from Scorpius on more than one occasion?

"You better not be reading this for work," Rose teased as she held the paper just slightly out of his reach.

"Actually," Scorpius began. "I could do with some paper and -"

"No, Malfoy," Rose sighed and handed him the paper before turning on her heel. "Not for another day, at least. You need to -"

"Rest?" Scorpius finished for her and when Rose turned her head to glare at him he grinned. "Thank you, Healer Weasley."

"I'll be back later, Mr. Malfoy. Take it easy today," she tapped the door frame. "I have eyes and ears all over this hospital, I'll know when you step a toe out of line."

Scorpius grinned.

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Flashback, Post-Hogwarts

"I wasn't allowed to be vulnerable, Malfoy, you know?"

His dark grey eyes met her steely blue ones, searching for the true meaning of what she was telling him. He blinked slowly, trying to clear the alcohol from his head; she was sitting so close to him he could smell her perfume; something dark yet floral, scents he couldn't place entirely, but something altogether her own. "What do you mean, Petal?"

He hadn't meant to call her that, not when they were being so serious; she was so rarely open and raw with him. He wasn't sure why tonight, of all nights, she chose to be real and honest with him over their second glass of whiskey. It was Christmas, after all, and she should be with her family who she rarely saw now that she was living in Sweden, not here with him at his pub, talking about serious topics.

She acted as though she didn't hear the hated nickname and took another sip of her whiskey, "My parents are war heroes, my mum is the Minister of Magic," Rose's voice was low and Scorpius, as much whiskey as he'd consumed, couldn't miss the hint of irritation in her voice. "My entire family fought in the war as heroes," she continued, her voice dropping somewhat. "They're always in the spotlight, were always in the spotlight. It felt like everyone knew everything about them, especially my parents. How could I grow up and be my own person in their shadow? I couldn't make mistakes without the whole Wizarding World knowing about it." Her eyes locked on his for a long moment before she said simply, "How could I be anything but strong in the eyes of my parents, in the eyes of the public?"

Scorpius searched her face before saying sincerely, "But you are strong, Rose."

She let out a mirthless laugh before taking another sip of her whiskey. "I'm a lot of things, Scorpius, but strong isn't one of them. For one, I ran away from my problems, didn't I?"

Scorpius shook his head, "You didn't run away," he corrected her. "You went to make a name for yourself, you went to be -"

"Someone else?" She nodded and he saw her hand grip her glass tighter, "Yes, that sounded good, didn't it? A wonderful excuse for me to leave my family and friends behind and run away to Sweden," she snorted. "I need to be free, I need to be someone else for a while, not the Minister's daughter," she said in a higher voice than her own. "No one could argue with that, could they?"

"Rose," Scorpius started, tilting his head slightly. "You did the right thing, leaving. It's what you needed to do to further your career. You are strong, you knew what you needed to do and you did it."

She let out a breath and met his eyes for a brief moment, "You give me too much credit, Malfoy."

"I don't think you give yourself enough," Malfoy's voice was soft. He wanted to kiss her and hold her, and he knew it wasn't just the alcohol talking, or the dreary holidays, or the fact that he missed her, or that Auror training was bloody hard. Maybe it was because for the first time Rose was being vulnerable in front of him, and maybe it was because the whiskey was making him feel brave, but he leaned his head closer to her, his eyes darting to her lips, willing her to look at him.

But she took another sip of her whiskey, "You understand though, don't you? Not being able to be vulnerable?"

Scorpius blinked, his eyes moving away from her lips, "I'm vulnerable a lot, Petal." He said that name again.

Rose snorted, "But you're a Malfoy."

"And that name meant something horrible," Scorpius leaned back in his chair, his eyes darkening. "We have to be vulnerable now, for people not to hate us."

Rose swallowed, her blue eyes locked on his face. "Children are cruel."

"Yes," Scorpius agreed. "They can be. Adults too." He shook his head slightly as though to clear it, "But that's all right now. People are less worried about our name."

"Quidditch helped," Rose offered. "Oh, I mean," she frowned. "I'm really putting my foot in my mouth, I'm sorry."

Scorpius shrugged, "Quidditch helped. Dad's position at the Ministry helped. Your mum and Harry helped," Scorpius swirled his glass of whiskey around. "And it will only get better."

Rose watched him closely, "You'll make a great Auror, you know."

"Thanks," Scorpius's lips twitched. "I rather hope so."

Rose glanced at her glass before flashing Scorpius a charming smile, "Fancy another?"

"I don't know, Petal," Scorpius started. "It's the holidays and I think we should head back. Don't you have a family to see?"

"Exactly why I fancy another," Rose stood up. "My treat," she winked and took both of their glasses to the bar. Scorpius let out a long breath as he watched her; this could either be a dream come true or an absolute nightmare.

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"In your professional opinion," Albus said from the doorway of her office. "When will Scorpius be able to have dinner with you, me, and Catriona?"

Rose didn't glance up from the file she was looking at to say dryly, "I'm starting to think these impromptu visits to my office are to see a patient here and not me."

"I know I'm not allowed to ask and I know you're not allowed to tell me," Albus said gently. "But he was worse off than any of us know, right?" Rose looked up and met her cousin's bright green eyes but didn't say anything. "Ah," he nodded. "Sure, of course," he ran a hand through his black, messy hair and sat down in the chair across from her desk. "I won't push a dinner then for a little while."

"I think Mr. Malfoy will benefit from a normal social life when he's released," Rose said in a professional voice.

Albus nodded, watching her closely. "You can't tell me how bad it was," he stopped when Rose met his eyes again. "No, no, I understand." He sighed deeply, "Well, I'm glad you're his Healer, Rose." He stood up, "If you're up for takeaway tonight, I'm around. We can keep the conversation light," he smiled kindly at her. "Just you and me."

Rose returned the smile, "I'd like that, Potter."