"Well isn't this a pleasant surprise?" Rose stood up from her behind her desk to greet her Uncle Charlie and Hugo. "What are you two doing here?"
"I was told I could get this scar looked at," Charlie held up his forearm.
"And I'm just stopping by to say hullo," Hugo said sheepishly. "Because I've been approved for a rotation in Romania -"
"Huey!" Rose threw her arms around her brother's torso - the highest part she could reach without him bending over. "That's bloody amazing!"
"Thanks," Hugo patted her back and grinned when she pulled back to look up at his face, swatting his arms.
"Oh, I'm so proud of you, you little sneak, you didn't tell me -"
"I wasn't sure I'd get it," Hugo shrugged, rubbing his shortly cropped dark red hair. "I leave with Uncle Charlie after the hols."
"How long?" Rose asked, finally letting go of him. "Can I come visit?" She looked over at her uncle, "Oh, can I? Please?"
"Course," Charlie laughed. "We'd love to have an incredible Healer like yourself come by and see our facilities -"
"That's an even better idea than a vacation," Rose's face lit up.
"You really are your mother's daughter," Charlie chuckled when Rose glared up at him.
"I'll only be there 6 months, so don't worry," Hugo continued. "I'll tell mum and dad tonight, although I'm sure mum already knows."
Rose hugged her brother tightly again, "You better go tell them both now, Huey."
Hugo sighed and clapped his uncle on the shoulder, "See ya later, Uncle Charlie."
"Gonna have to get used to calling me 'Head Dragonologist', Hugo," Charlie winked at his nephew, laughing at Hugo's exaggerated groan as he left Rose's office. "So, Healer Weasley," Charlie grinned as he sat down across from her desk. "Ready to look at my scar?"
"Stand up," Rose shook her head at him. "Let's bring you to a room, come on," she guided him out of her office and down the hall to an empty examination room. "You're going to have to be honest with me, Mr. Weasley," Rose pointed at the bed. "What exactly happened?"
"A dragon," Charlie's lips twitched. Rose arched an eyebrow at him, standing tall in front of him, one hand on her hip, her wand pointed at him. He swallowed, "Got in the way of a young dragon. Talons got caught," he pushed up his sleeve. "Tried to roll away and it stuck," he shrugged.
"How long ago?" Rose asked as she turned his forearm back and forth to get a better look at it.
"Two months ago," Charlie lifted his head up to think. "Give or take."
"And how did they heal it on the reserve?" Rose was now waving her wand over his arm.
"Not sure," he shrugged. "I had to deal with the dragon and his mum before I went into the medical tent."
Rose sighed dramatically and summoned a few things out of the cabinet, "Of course you did."
"This isn't the first time I've gotten into a scrape," Charlie shrugged before he yelped in surprise when Rose poured one of the vials onto the deep purple scar. "What was -"
"Don't be such a baby," she bit back a laugh. "This will only take a minute."
"Ouch," Charlie hissed when she patted something cold and gloopy on his arm. "That doesn't -"
"Don't worry," Rose said in a sing-song voice and tapped her wand on his arm as the gloopy mess was absorbed into his skin. "One more," she said quickly and poured one more vial on his arm and Charlie yelped again when it sizzled on his skin. "And now," she tapped her wand on his arm and a cloth bandage wrapped around his arm. "Take that off in 3 days," she glared at him, "not any sooner and you should have a slightly smaller and less unseemly scar."
"A nice Christmas gift to mum, eh?" Charlie huffed and looked up at Rose. "That bloody hurt."
"More or less than a dragon tearing your arm open?" She challenged.
Charlie stared at her for a long moment, "Fair enough, love." He stuck his hand out for her to shake, "Your bedside manner this good for all your patients or is it just for family?"
"Just family," Rose stuck her tongue out at her uncle and stepped away from the bed. "Now, are you free for -"
"Healer Weasley!" A MediWizard stuck his head in the room. "They're asking for you," he sounded out of breath. "An Auror -"
"Who?" Rose's eyes widened in fear, her heart clenched in worry.
"Auror Malfoy," the older MediWizard was nearly wheezing. "Down the hall -"
"Uncle Charlie," Rose was hurrying towards the door, the fear apparent on her face when she turned back to look at her uncle.
"Go," Charlie nodded at her.
"Get MediWitch Walsh," Rose pointed to the man. "Have her escort my uncle out," she met Charlie's eyes briefly before she hurried down the hall, her heart beating wildly in her chest.
Everything around her slowed down as she pushed through the door; she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding when her eyes landed on Scorpius leaning back in the bed, his face contorted in pain, his hands gripping his leg. "What happened?" Her voice was firm as she said to no one in particular, her eyes locked on Scorpius.
His dark grey eyes opened and he had the audacity to smile at her. "Miss me, Healer Weasley?"
Rose clenched her jaw, pressing her lips firmly together to keep from screaming at him to be bloody careful. She waved her wand over his leg and pushed on his chest so he would lean back against the pillows. "What happened?" She asked again in a clipped voice.
"Ricocheted spell," the timid Auror-in-training said from behind her and Rose snapped her neck to look at the young man.
"Better tell her which spell, Hawkins," Scorpius barely ground out, his eyes shut tight in pain.
"A bombarda," the young man gulped and tried to press his body against the wall when he saw the fire in Rose's eyes before she turned back to Scorpius.
"Go get yourself a cup of tea," she said as she summoned things from the cabinet next to the bed. The young man slowly started to leave the room when Rose eyed him carefully, "Wait." The young man stopped moving as though he had been caught, "Do you need to be looked at?"
"No, ma'am," the young man shook his head. "I'm fine," he gulped. "Auror Malfoy, he -"
"Yes," Scorpius interrupted him. "Thank you, Hawkins. Go get that tea, will ya? And then go write your report up, I'll be back -"
"Tomorrow," Rose finished for him, arching an eyebrow at him. "He'll be in tomorrow."
Hawkins looked caught and confused but when Rose turned her attention back to him he jumped up in surprise and scurried out of the room, closing the door behind him.
"You didn't need to scare him, Pet - ow," Scorpius hissed when Rose ripped his pant leg open with her wand.
"You bloody wanker," she snapped at him and poured a vial on his leg, ignoring the loud hiss the potion emitted when it made contact with his skin. "You could have been killed."
"Aye, but I wasn't - ow," Scorpius jumped in pain when she dumped another potion on his leg. "This hurts!"
"I hope it does," Rose hissed at him, her head snapping up and Scorpius saw the fear in her eyes as she took a deep, sobering breath. "Maybe it'll get you to think -"
"Hey," Scorpius reached out to grab her hand. "Hey," he said again, his voice soft and gentle. "I'm okay."
"You could have -"
"But I didn't," he put his other hand on her cheek and she sat down next to him on the bed despite wanting to keep a professional distance from him until he was healed. "I'm a pretty good Auror, you know, Petal," he quipped lightly and laughed when she glared up at him despite leaning into his hand.
"A bombarda," she whispered, reaching up to grasp the hand that was on her cheek.
"It barely scraped me, see? I'm fine," he smiled slightly. "You're fixing me up, aren't you?"
She rolled her eyes and pushed off the bed to stand up, taking a deep breath. "If you let me finish," she huffed and opened a tub of something purple. "It'll be cold," she glanced up at his face before gently kneading the purple paste onto his leg; Scorpius leaned back into the bed and lifted his head up to the ceiling in pain, but pressed his lips together to keep from crying out.
After a long moment he felt her sit beside him again and he opened his eyes to see her use a tiny bit of another paste to seemingly stitch his skin back together. When it was done, she let her hands rest over the injury, her eyes closed, her lips parted slightly as she took deep breaths.
"Hey," he put a finger under her chin to lift her head up and smiled at her when her dark blue eyes, full of unshed tears, met his slate grey eyes. "Thank you," he whispered.
"I'm just doing my -"
He chuckled and shook his head, pulling her towards him, kissing her cheek and wrapping his arms around her. "I'm sorry, Petal," he said softly against her temple.
"It's hard to see you here," she breathed and he felt a tear on his neck.
"I know, love," he kissed her temple and held her tightly against his chest. "I don't like doing this to you."
"It won't get any easier," she sniffed, "but, I'll try -"
"I'll try too," he agreed.
"You're a good Auror," she whispered.
"The best," he chided her playfully. "And you are the best Healer," he smiled and pulled back slightly to meet her eyes, swiping his thumb gently against her cheek to wipe away the few stray tears.
"Do you want to tell me what happened?" She asked after she took another deep breath.
"Not until you tell me the damage," he nodded down at his leg. "Can I walk out of here?"
"With a cane or a crutch," she patted his hand. "For a few days at least," she rolled her eyes at the disgruntled look on his face. "This leg's had a tough go of it," she sighed. "And you want to be completely healed, don't you?"
"Yes," he groaned.
"Then keep weight off it as much as possible and don't do anything strenuous," her voice was light and teasing and when he opened his mouth to retort she kissed his cheek quickly. "Don't worry, Mr. Auror, you'll figure something out," she pushed up off the bed. "I'll have a MediWitch check on you and I'll be back in a moment with something for you to eat," she started towards the door. "Rest," she ordered him. "And we'll see if I can leave early to take you home, Mr. Malfoy."
"Doctor's orders?" He asked, a sly smile on his face.
"Doctor's orders," Rose agreed as she pulled the door open and stepped out into the hall. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she walked to the Medi station and waved down the first person she saw. "MediWitch Sinclair," she smiled at the woman. "Can you check on Auror Malfoy in room 213? He'll need water and a reminder not to stand up for the next 30 minutes."
"Yes, Healer Weasley," Elaine grinned and hurried down the hall as Rose turned to head to her office, clenching her fists, taking slow, steady breaths. She shut her office door and rested her head against the cool wood of the door; she knew she needed to relax, she needed to get her breathing steady, she needed to -
She felt a lump in her throat and swallowed it down, determined not to cry, determined not to overthink anything. Scorpius was fine. He'd be able to move freely in a few days, and would have been able to sooner if not for his previous injury.
She squeezed her eyes shut tightly, unwilling to let a single tear fall. She wasn't supposed to feel this emotional over him yet, she wasn't supposed to -
A knock on her door startled her, and Rose jerked back a step, taking a deep breath before she opened the door and blinked twice at Healer Dawson.
"You have a moment, Rose?"
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Scorpius could admit he was exhausted and he wanted nothing more than to let his eyes close and to drift off to sleep, just for a few minutes, just to rest, but Rose said she'd be back soon and when his stomach rumbled, he knew sleep wouldn't come until he'd eaten. He tapped his fingers against his good leg impatiently; the MediWitch had already been by with water and a reminder not to bloody stand up or walk, but he was hungry and tired and where was Rose?
He sat up, determined to walk to at least the cafeteria when the door to his room opened and Rose stepped in holding a tray of food. "Hungry?"
"Very," he sighed, relieved, and moved over slightly in the bed, patting the spot next to him. With a playful roll of her eyes she sat down next to him as the tray hovered in front of them and Scorpius tore into his cheese toasty as Rose opened the small bag of crisps. He glanced over at her and saw her eyes slowly moving over his face; when she noticed he caught her eyes darted to the bag of crisps, embarrassed. "Petal," he said in a soft voice and wrapped his free arm around her. "I'm okay."
"I know," Rose whispered back. "I just," she glanced up at him. "It's confusing," she confessed.
"Will it make it less confusing," he started slowly, ducking his head slightly so they were eye-to-eye, "if I said that I'm bloody crazy about you?" He watched as Rose's dark blue eyes widened; his lips twitched slightly. "So crazy that I think I -"
Rose cut him off with a deep kiss, his toasty and the crisps forgotten; several minutes later Rose finally pulled back and leaned her forehead against his collarbone. "Slightly less confusing," she agreed with a soft chuckle. She sat up straight, "Now, Auror Malfoy," Rose said in her professional voice. "I've got to gather my things, and then I'll be back to escort you home."
"You've got the rest of the day off?" Scorpius arched an eyebrow at her, clearly suspicious.
"The Healer-in-Charge demanded I help one of the Ministry's finest as best I could," Rose smirked and stood up from the bed. "I'll be back in a few," she winked at him and left the room again.
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Rose felt a great weight lift off her shoulders after she talked with Healer Dawson and after Scorpius admitted that he was crazy about her; was he falling for her as quickly as she was falling for him? She walked with Scorpius through Muggle London back to his flat, her arm looped through his as he put most of his weight on a hospital cane (despite his whinging), her head occasionally resting on his arm, enjoying the slow pace through the wintery air.
"Will you stay a while?" Scorpius asked as they neared his flat.
Rose looked up at him, "Try getting rid of me tonight, Malfoy." Scorpius grinned at her and leant down to kiss her cheek. "We'll get you settled in and then I'll grab some takeaway," she patted his arm.
"And I'll rest," Scorpius bit his bottom lip to keep from laughing at Rose's hard glare.
"Yes, you will," she arched an eyebrow at him with a huff.
Rose left Scorpius sitting on his couch and his leg elevated on a pillow writing his incident report (an argument he wouldn't let Rose win); just as he was finishing his report, the Floo sounded and Dominique stepped out, confusion and worry clear on her face when she saw him on the couch wearing joggers and one of his old Quidditch t-shirts.
"Are you okay?" Dominique hurried to kneel next to him on the couch. "What happened?" Her eyes glanced down to his leg that was elevated on the pillow, his pants rolled up.
Scorpius patted her arm, "I'm fine, Nic. Just a little tussle at work today -"
"You bloody prat," she swatted at him. "You went to hospital and didn't tell -"
"I was barely there," Scorpius shrugged. "In and out, you know. They've got great -"
"Did Rose heal you?" Dominique was still upset. "Were they -"
"I'm fine, Dominique," Scorpius said in a firm but gentle voice. "I promise," he met her gaze. "Rose did help me out, not because it was bad, but because she was there."
He didn't notice Dominique's clear blue eyes narrowing slightly as she sat up on the coffee table, "If you're so fine what are you doing home and not out -"
"Doctor's orders," he shrugged. "Need to rest."
"Well, let me get you something to eat," Dominique stood to walk towards the kitchen. "I can whip you something out or step out and get you something," she turned her head back to him. "Or I can owl Albus and he -"
"No," Scorpius scratched his short beard. "No, that's okay, I'll be alright, I'm -"
They both turned as the Floo sounded again and Rose stepped out, holding up the bottle of whisky Scorpius had given her for Christmas and a bag of takeaway. "I thought we'd have a little drink too, oh," Rose's eyes finally landed on Dominique.
"Well," Dominique crossed her arms in front of her chest, her blue eyes dancing, a slow smirk growing on her face. "It's about bloody time."
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A/N: Hullo this is short because I'm going away for a long weekend and I wanted to post something before the *gasp* final chapter which will be Christmas! And will be longer! And maybe there will be an epilogue or a sequel or a spin-off, idk, I freaking love these silly little people...