Chapter 5
A pecking at the window woke Rose up early Thursday morning. With her eyes still blurry, and the sky still dark, Rose remained motionless in bed. Sleep was something of a rarity for her at the moment. So when she managed to actually find a comfortable bed position and to stop thinking about Scorpius she took her chance to sleep. No matter how annoyingly persistent a raven feathered owl could be.
The owl's beak quickened its pace. Its large wings expanded and filled the view of the wind. Hoot, hoot, hoooooooot, it cried, flapping its wings against the glass.
"Rose," Hermione hissed, barging open the door to Rose's bed room. The hall light's yellow glow splaying in through the door frame, but Rose remained still. "Are you trying to wake the entire neighborhood up?" Hermione asked as she thudded over to the window and opened it.
The owl soared in with a judgmental hoot and landed on the pillow beside Rose—tapping her cheek with the corner of the letter letter. Clasping her eyes closed and determined not to get up yet, Rose swatted at the bird, only to receive a sharp, bone crushing snap to her finger.
"Ow," Rose barked and snatched the letter from the owl. Satisfied, the owl left her side and soared over to the top of a shelf to have a well-deserved rest.
Consoling her finger, Rose tried not to pay any mind to her mother still standing in the room. "So," Hermione's voice broke the silence. "You want to elaborate?"
Rose sighed as she clicked on her lamp. "Do I have to?" she asked looking up to her mother's stern expression.
Hermione crossed her arms, her white cotton night gown swaying as she breathed. Frizzy un-brushed curls were pulled up into a wad on the top of her head. "You don't have too," she said.
Rose nodded and looked down to her letter. She already knew what it was. Ever since last Thursday's argument with Scorpius, he had given her the space that she desired. He hadn't called or wrote, and she no longer had to endure any more pestering conversations from Carla on his behalf. Anything that had to do with Scorpius had suddenly vanished from her life, and it was driving Rose mental. Finally on Tuesday Rose couldn't handle it anymore, and she wrote a letter. It wasn't long, or heartfelt. In fact it was one line and seven words, but it was something.
Peeling open the back of the envelope, Rose pulled out the same letter she had sent Scorpius earlier that week and read her own handwriting, Are you still coming to the appointment? Underneath it was a quickly scribbled—all lower case—yes.
Rose stared at it for a moment and turned the letter over to see if there was anything more. There wasn't, and her heart sunk. She thought that she wanted space from him, but she didn't expect it to feel so awful when she had it. There was a reason why she hadn't wanted to tell Scorpius about how she was feeling because she knew it would hurt him, and judging by the one word response it had.
Folding the letter, Rose placed it on her nightstand and said, "It was Scorpius confirming that he was coming to the appointment today."
Hermione's eye softened. "Oh," she said, her lips pinched.
Rose nodded and diverted her eyes away from her mother. "Yeah," she drawled.
"What time is your appointment again?" Hermione asked.
"Six."
"Well…" Hermione said casually. "I have Hugo scheduled to sit with your father around that time, so…you know…if you wanted me too, I could go with you also," she suggested, stumbling over a few words.
Rose's head shot up. "You don't have too," she said quickly.
Hermione's eyes dropped to the floor. "Right. Of course," she mumbled, lifting her head up with a smile. "Well get some rest dear. Big day ahead." And she turned to leave.
"Malfoy." Someone tapped his shoulder. "Uhh, Malfoy."
Scorpius jerked his head up with a horrible crick in his neck. Mindy jumped back at the sudden movement and snickered. "Did you sleep here last night?" she asked, looking at the impression of quill on his cheek.
Scorpius' eyes adjusted, and he looked around the still empty office. "Apparently," he yawned, outstretching his arms. "What time is it?"
"Early," she answered dryly.
"Thanks," he grumbled unappreciatively and looked to his watch. Mindy nodded and went back to her desk. Lowering his arms, Scorpius pushed his chair out from under his desk, his legs popping as he stood.
Not having enough time to go home and change, Scorpius made his way down to the men's locker room. Rummaging through the workout bag that he'd brought yesterday but neglected to get too, he pulled out the pair of sweat pants and a loose gray t-shirt with a Wizards of Wonder emblem on it. In the London office the dress code was more business formal, so Scorpius wore a suit and tie more out of habit than necessity. However, New York didn't require it, so if he had to spend the day in his workout clothes then it wouldn't be noticed.
Going into one of the shower stalls, Scorpius removed his watch and laid it on top of his dirty pile of clothes. He was surprised that he had fallen asleep at work. Lately he hadn't been sleeping much at all. He'd been putting in overtime at the office, going through file after file to distract his thoughts. He knew eventually that there would be a point when he would crash, he just hadn't expected it to be at work.
Scorpius tucked his chin into his chest to let the water hit his neck. The warmth of the water soothing the ach that he had from sleeping awkwardly. Work had become Scorpius' solace over the past week. It allowed him to do something productive without constantly thinking about how he would be going home to an empty apartment at night, or that his wife couldn't stand the sight of him because he made her feel useless. Home was a place of reminders. Reminders of the life he had, the life that he wanted back, and the life that he knew was gone.
What Rose had said to him last week really had an impact. Scorpius never imagined that she could feel so bad around him, or that it would be because of something he did. Hearing her say it hurt him in more ways than Rose could understand, but he wasn't mad at her about it. He was mad at himself. He'd vowed to love her and protect her, to always be the one that she could count on. But now that he knew how Rose was feeling, he couldn't help but feel he had broken and betrayed that vow. So he did as she asked and quit pushing her.
He would be there for her and the baby, and when she was ready to return he would be waiting. Unfortunately, that was all easier said than done because Rose being almost completely out of his life at the moment left Scorpius more lost than ever before. The days of the week collided together, and unlike Rose, he wasn't and incessant planner.
The hot water ran fluidly down his back, turning his pale skin pink. Scorpius welcomed the burn, closing his eyes and tipping his head back so that the water hit the edge of his hairline. When he was done, Scorpius walked back to the office and made himself a cup of coffee—the room still densely populated.
Scorpius had just begun to sit down when Cornell yelled, "Malfoy." Straightening back up, Scorpius turned to Cornell as walked heavily to his office with a grave expression and two thick file folders in his hands.
"Sir," Scorpius said, following Cornell into his office.
Cornell slammed the folders on his desk. "How would you want recovery duty?"
Scorpius ran his hands through his damp hair. "Now?" he asked.
"Yeah." Cornell handed one of the folders to Scorpius. Inside was a picture of a life-size charcoal sculpture of a slim stretched out body—no defined gender—with its arms opened up in an embracing stance. "It's a Choker alarm," Cornell said sternly. "You put it by a doorway and if someone passes it that isn't recognized, it chokes them. The only way to be released is if you use a special charm."
"Lovely." Scorpius stared at Cornell blankly. "How did the ministry lose this?"
Cornell sighed. "Some idiot Wizarding examiner cleared it as a muggle artifact, and sold it to an art collector in an estate sale last week. It wasn't until yesterday that he realized what it was." He stroked his mustache. "As far as we know it is deactivated but…"
"If it gets reactivated a muggle can't get free. I get it," Scorpius mumbled, flipping through the folder. "You want me to wait for Carla?"
Cornell sat down and took a deep breath. "No, I need this done as soon as possible." Lifting his head up, Cornell examined who was in the office. "MINDY," he barked not leaving his desk.
"YEAH," she yelled back, not making any attempt to stand up.
"YOU WANT RECOVERY DUTY?"
"ONLY IF YOU PROMISE IT'S DANGEROUS," her voice rang through the office.
Cornell chuckled. "THEN GET YOUR STUFF."
Scorpius raised his eyebrows to the interaction and scoffed, "You would have had me doing push-ups for a month if I had done that."
Cornell gave a smug smile. "It's a family thing. Speaking of which how's Rose?"
Scorpius began to fidget with the wand in his pocket. "She's good. A bit cranky." Even if he wasn't around her, Scorpius knew Rose.
"Good," Cornell whistled through his teeth. Looking casually around the room, he asked, "Have you two talked any about what her plans are after." He waved his hand passively.
"Not yet," Scorpius said.
Cornell's eyes landed on Scorpius. "Well tell her I wish her well."
"I'm ready," Mindy said from the doorway. "Who's my chaperone today?"
Rose had just finished having an early lunch with Albus—where she constantly pestered him on the Ben situation—and walked him back to his office. She had a stack of folders that she needed to get sent back to Cornell, and she really didn't want to go to New York to do it. Instead she figured she could use the London office's floo network system to send them over.
As she made her way to the exit doors, she passed by her father's office at the end of a secluded hall. The windowless door with the gold plaque on it that read Ron Weasley, looked as though everything was normal. She must have opened that door a thousand times as a child. She would just go in without knocking and see him sitting at his desk. Every time—no matter what he was doing, or if he was in the middle of a conversation with someone else—he would wave her over to him and let her climb into his lap.
Walking over to the door, Rose pushed the handle open. Everything was dark with the exception of the light coming in from the window, which overlooked the main entrance to the ministry. His chair was still pushed out, and on his desk was a stack of letters that he had yet to read. Behind his chair was a quick quotes quill floating midair with a scroll of parchment in front of it, waiting. Everything seemed to be waiting for him to return as though nothing had happened.
Rose felt her chest tighten. Tears began to wail up in her eyes, and Rose leaned against the wall, afraid that she'd loose her balance. Closing her eyelids, she pinched the bridge of her nose, and heaved deep uneven breaths, holding back tears. When she was finally able to calm herself down, she moved to leave the room but heard voices coming from outside the cracked door.
"I'm not going to that event with you and that's final." Rose peeked through the crack to see who was talking. It was Vivian.
"Why not?" James asked nonchalantly.
Vivian giggled as James leaned into her, pressing her back into the wall. "For starters I'm working the event for Witch Weekly."
"Even better, I can get you inside access," James joked, placing his hands on either side of her hips.
"I'm not a reporter James. I don't need inside access. Beside I doubt you will have that much trouble finding another date." She wrapped her arms seductively around his neck. "I'm sure you have a list of girls willing to date James Potter."
James shrugged. "True enough," he said, dropping his hands from Vivian's waist and stepping back away from her, causing Vivian to snicker.
Rose didn't want to get stuck in having a conversation with James and Vivian, but as she looked around the room she thought that she might start crying again if she didn't leave. Pushing and extremely polite smile on, Rose opened the door, surprising Vivian and James.
"Rose," both said in unison, parting from each other and looking in opposite directions.
"I didn't mean to interrupt," Rose said, her voice only slightly shaky but maintaining her smile.
"It's probably a good thing you did," Vivian countered, combing her fingers through her somewhat tousled hair.
"What are you doing here?" James asked cheerfully.
"I was dropping something off to my boss, and I just saw…" Rose pointed her finger to the office.
"Oh." James gave Rose a sympathetic look. The three of them going into silence.
"So…" Vivian drawled through her teeth. "You're pregnant. Congratulations."
Rose's eyes bolted to Vivian. "I didn't realize that that was common knowledge yet." She gritted her teeth together debating if she had enough of a reason to see Scorpius, even if it was to scold him.
Vivian must have noticed that Rose thought Scorpius had told her because she added, "Astoria told me."
Rose gave a low grumbling sigh. "Of course she did," she said glumly, pushing her smile wider. "So, what are you doing here?" she asked to change the subject.
Vivian grinned to James. "I just stopped by for lunch."
"I don't recall any eating being involved," retorted James, causing Rose's face to contort disgustedly.
"Ew," she responded, "I should go before I get a mental image that I really don't want."
"Actually I should be going too. Work," Vivian elaborated. "If you wait a second, I'll walk out with you."
The last thing Rose wanted to do was walk out with Vivian. If Astoria told her about the pregnancy then Rose was sure that Vivian probably knew about her leaving Malfoy manor early as well. Even though she and Vivian had become friendlier to each other in recent months, that didn't mean that Rose was willing to talk to her about her personal problems. So she was surprised when her mouth stammered, "O—Okay."
Vivian looked back to James and smirked. "Have fun with your date. I'm sure I will see you after."
"And if you don't?" tested James.
Vivian raised her eyebrows. "I will," she said confidently, then turned to catch up to Rose.
Taking the elevator and going out into muggle London, Rose stared at Vivian. "I thought you had to go to work?"
"I am," Vivian responded simply. "I'm doing a shoot for a muggle magazine today. Take work where you can get it right?"
Rose nodded, her mind going back to how Vivian already knew about the pregnancy. The thought making Rose uncomfortable that Vivian always seemed to know what was going on in her life without being told directly by Scorpius or herself.
"How often do you talk to her?" Rose asked, trying not to sound frustrated.
"Who? Astoria?" Vivian looked at Rose and smirked. "More than I probably should. My mum's never had much time for me, even before my dad got sick. Astoria just has."
"Oh," Rose said, looking down to the ground. "The daughter she never had," she commented.
"Not really." Vivian became oddly quiet. The women walked down the street together, stopping at an intersection. "She was pregnant with a girl once," Vivian said softly.
"What?" Rose said in surprised.
"Me and Scorpius were about six when it happened. She was really far along too like eight months."
"What happened?" asked Rose, starting to walk again with the other pedestrians.
Vivian shrugged. "Don't know it's not something that she talks about a lot. I just remember Scorpius saying that she went to an appointment and there wasn't a heartbeat."
Rose felt sick to her stomach as she thought about going to any appointment of hers and being told that there wasn't a heartbeat.
Vivian's tone brightened as she said, "Astoria is just really excited to be having another baby around. I don't think she meant anything by it when she told all her friends."
Nodding, Rose agreed. "Right," and they continued to walk in silence. Rose still preoccupied by the fact that she may have something to fear in going to the healer.
"It is way too early in the morning to be doing this," grunted Mindy.
"You're the one who wanted to go through the window," commented Scorpius, looking out the apartment window that he had broken into. Mindy was tittering on top of a wobbling trash bin. Her hand outstretched towards the window ceil that Scorpius was able to reach so easily due to his extra foot of height. Scorpius' extended hand, and Mindy clutched his forearm, bracing the heel of her boot on the wall.
"Yes, well, I changed my mind," she said, tugging on his grip. In actuality Mindy was right to suggest the window (apparating would have been too risky if someone was home and the front door was never the option). Once she was secure, Scorpius swiftly swung her up onto the ledge, accidentally yanking too hard and causing her to tumble in and sprawl across the floor. "Ouch," she said, still lying on the floor and keeping her eyes closed.
Scorpius waited patiently for her to get her barrings again and scanned the apartment. It was a small ordinary looking one bedroom apartment. There was a dusty bookcase in the corner with only picture frames scattered on the shelves, a couch with a bundled blanket tossed on it, and mounted on the wall was a television that had been left turned on to a world news station.
Mindy stood up and scoured the room as well, noticing the same thing that Scorpius was; that there wasn't a single piece of art hanging on the wall or sculpture in the corners. "Not the average art collector's apartment," she mumbled.
"Check the bedroom," he ordered, extending his wand out defensively.
Scorpius turned in a circle, taking in every nick and cranny of the yellow apartment walls. There wasn't a cobweb or mouse hole in sight, as far as Scorpius could tell this apartment was completely normal like the muggle that lived there; the only contradiction being the pit in Scorpius' stomach.
"There's nothing in there," said Mindy, emerging from the room.
Scorpius' eyes landed on the bookcase. "Watch the door." He stalked over to it, flicking his wand to cast a bright white light, which allowed him to better examine the case. Upon closer inspection, Scorpius saw that the picture frames still had the original modeled pictures that they were sold with, in them—the price stickers just scraped away. Bending, he saw that the wood floor beneath it was severely scuffed, and on the side of the case was the impression of a hand in the dust.
"This has been moved recently," he announced.
"Hmm." Mindy pursed her lips and walked up beside him—her arms crossed. "So are we going to see what's behind it?" she suggested as though the thought hadn't occurred to Scorpius.
Scorpius glared to her. "You have to take in a situation before you go moving things around. Give it time."
Mindy nodded understandingly. Looking down to her watch, she popped her head up. "Time." And she swooshed her wand, sliding the book case about three feet down the wall. Scorpius stared angrily to her, but stopped as he noticed the doorless doorframe to another bedroom that the case was hiding. Mindy marched in first.
Inside, the room was much different from the rest of the apartment. The floors were a shiny buffed maple wood, the walls were a distracting shade of maroon, and hanging on the walls was a row of portraits…snoring portraits.
Unlike Mindy, Scorpius took the time to move the bookcase back in place, enclosing them in.
"This is some creepy stuff," commented Mindy.
Scorpius noticed what she was talking about. Pushed against the walls were glass cases that held an assortment of objects. One of them had a nimbus 2000 with a crooked handle, another one displayed a collection of brightly colored quills, but the one that distracted Scorpius was the case in the center of the room that held a twelve inch wand on a purple pillow.
"Can we go ahead and rule out that this guy isn't the average muggle?" said Mindy.
Scorpius walked over to another display case. This one was far more grotesque than the previous ones. There was a shrunken head struggling to open its sewn lips, the rotted corpse of a Cornish pixie, and the severed scabby hand of a dementor floating in a jar of formaldehyde.
"Found it," said Mindy, reaching out to grab onto a clean white sheet that was draped over a figure near the door. Tugging on it, the sheet revealed the life-sized slim sculpture with its hands outstretched, and a gaping hole for its mouth.
"I'm telling you I have more," somebody said, on the other side of the bookcase. "I have at least three more museums around in other countries. If you don't like what's here we'll go to another one," the man's smooth voice said reassuringly.
Scorpius straightened his back. "Cover that back up," he whispered urgently.
Mindy's eyes went cross, holding a slight bit of panic. "We're not taking it?"
"No," Scorpius announced, marching over to Mindy and snatching the sheet from her hand. "We need to get out of here," he said, flinging the sheet back over the statue and glancing around the room once more with a concerned expression on his face. "This isn't a recovery duty. This is a case."
"Senor Sebastian, I personally assure you that my partner and I can find exactly what you are looking." The back of the bookcase jerked, as though the man on the other side were leaning against it. "Very well, I will meet you in Prague."
Scorpius' froze, a chill running down his spine. Reaching for Mindy's small hand, he apparated them back to the office.
"A collection," Cornell said after Scorpius and Mindy had returned to the office and explained what happened. "Of Wizarding artifacts."
"Yes," Mindy stated. "And there are at least three more of them." Her lips twitched as she tried to hold back the excitement on her face.
Scorpius hung in the back of Cornell's office and watched as Cornell tapped his quill against his desk. "What is your opinion Malfoy? Do you think this should be investigated?"
Clearing his throat, Scorpius straightened. "I think that there are a group of muggles, who are trying to infiltrate our community. And judging by what we found they have already gotten really close."
"But you don't think this could be solved with a simple sweep job of recovering all the artifacts and just erasing the memories of those involved?" Cornell questioned.
"No," Scorpius spoke clearly. "I think that this is something much bigger than the two that are involved. I would recommend infiltration of the group to see what their ultimate goal is. If it is really just a group of collectors that like Wizardering objects, then I think recover and erase would be the best option. But if it is about exposing us well…" He popped his head up to look at Cornell. "We won't know anything until we get involved."
Cornell's chair creaked as he leaned back into it. "I agree."
"Really?" Mindy said with bright hopefully eyes.
"Yes." Cornell nodded.
"You're not joking," said Mindy rushing around Cornell's desk and flinging her arms around her uncle's neck. "Thank you Uncle Ollie!" she cried. Cornell allowed his lips to curve into a smile, at Mindy's ecstatic declaration. "I promise I won't let you down."
Cornell patted her arm. "Go get the file started, I need to talk to Malfoy for a moment."
"Alright," she said, rushing past Scorpius and out of the room.
Scorpius stayed behind. He waited for the door to Cornell's office to swing closed before he walked forward, standing directly in front of the man. "Sir?"
The cheerful expression on Cornell's face had vanished—his usual grumpy demeanor returning. "Can you handle this case?" he asked, raising his bushy eyebrows. "Or do I need to let Matt take over from here?"
Scorpius sucked in a breath of air and exhaled through his nose. "I'm fine."
"You sure?" Cornell looked Scorpius up and down examining his clothes. "You've seemed distracted."
Shaking his head indignantly. "I want this case."
"Very well," Cornell said, releasing him.
Outside, Mindy was waiting by the door. "So who's my partner? You or Matt?" She had her index fingers pointing in two different directions.
"Me," he confirmed.
"Great," she said sounding genuinely happy—the chip on her shoulder seeming to have vanished…for now. "So I've got a lot of ideas planned out that I would love to get your opinion of." Mindy looked at her watch. "Do you want to go get some lunch and talk about them?"
Scorpius ran his hands through his hair and looked over to Carla who had a curious expression on her face. "Sure," he said taken off guard by Mindy's jumping and punching of the air. "Just give me about ten minutes."
Mindy nodded enthusiastically. "Okay." She spun on the heel of her boot and clasped her hands together. "I'm so excited. First case."
Scorpius chortled. "I hadn't noticed."
"Mrs. Malfoy, we really can't wait much longer," the receptionist in the healer's office said, looking over to Rose.
Rose gripped her handbag tighter to her chest and stared at the woman. "Can you please just give us ten more minutes?" she asked nervously. "He's probably just held up with work."
The receptionist gave Rose a pitting look. "Ten more minutes, but after that you've either got to go in or come back another day. Healer Rhyn would really like to go home for the evening."
Rose gave a tight nod. "I understand," she said in as clear of a voice as she could manage. The receptionist stood up to go tell the healer that they were waiting another ten minutes.
Alone, Rose dug into her bag and pulled out her phone. No missed calls, it said when she checked. The plan was for Scorpius to come during his lunch hour and to meet in the healer's office. So Rose showed up about half an hour early to fill out some paperwork and maybe try and talk to Scorpius. She wasn't sure what she would say to him, except that she missed him but just needed time to heal. That being said, their appointment time had come and gone and Scorpius hadn't shown.
Worse, was the fact that Vivian's revelation about Astoria kept ringing in the back of Rose's mind, increasing her fear about going into her appointment. Although, she had to admit that it seemed odd to be so worried. She was the one who was so adamant on never wanting children. Still, it was her bump, and she had grown accustomed to it, regardless if she wanted it or not.
The door opened and Rose's head bolted up. It was only the maintenance witch, who looked surprised to see a patient waiting so late in the evening. Rose diverted her eyes down to her wristwatch, staring as a full minute ticked by before getting up. "I'll be right back," she said to the receptionist behind the counter.
The woman scowled. "You have seven minutes," she announced, as though she were counting down the time in her head.
"Noted," Rose said and rushed out of the room, down the hall to her father's room. Immediately, she heard Hugo and her mother talking quietly to one another. "Mum," she said weakly, tapping on the cracked door and pushing it open.
Hermione looked surprised as she and Hugo turning towards her. "You're appointment go alright?" Hermione asked, placing her hands in her lap.
Rose sucked her bottom lip in and bit down with her teeth, embarrassed. "I haven't had it yet."
Both, Hermione and Hugo double checked the time on their watches. It being nearly forty minutes past Rose's scheduled time. "I'm going to go get some coffee," Hugo said, strategically leaving Rose and Hermione alone.
Hermione stared at Rose's sullen expression. "Rose?" she said, concern filling her tired, purple eyes.
Rose bowed her head and found comfort in the sterilized white linoleum floor. She spoke timidly, "Scorpius hasn't shown up yet, and—" She peeked her eyes up to her mother and saw the stern expression on her face. "What if something is wrong?" She placed her hands protectively over her stomach. "I don't want to be alone if there is."
Hermione gave a weak but soppy smile, and Rose wasn't sure what to make of it. "I'm being mental aren't I?" asked Rose, lowering her eyes again.
"No, dear," Hermione said, walking over to Rose and wrapping her arms across her daughter's shoulders. The frizzy ends of her hair tickled Rose's face as Hermione shook her head. "Not at all. You're being a mother."
Rose shuddered under her mother's embrace. Hermione's comforting grip allowing Rose to relax for the first time since lunch. "Will you go with me?" she asked like a child needing their mother's presence, but that was what she felt like.
"Let's go," Hermione said, rubbing Rose's arm.
"If it isn't the infamous Rose Malfoy," A tall but muscular man with a golden suntan said, walking into the examining room.
Rose, who was perched on the edge of an examining bed, turned around and blushed. "Sorry…There must have been some misunderstanding on times." She bowed her head, knowing that wasn't the case.
Healer Rhyn's teeth sparkled as he gave a wide grin. "Don't worry," he said, in a reassuring tone. "I usually recommend that my patient's bring someone with them anyways, so that just makes you ahead of the rest." Rose popped her head up and gave a relieved smile. "And I guess that makes you—" He turned to Hermione, who was sitting in the corner.
"Her mother," Hermione said extending her hand out, to which Healer Rhyn took.
"Pleasure." He winked. Grabbing Rose's folder off the table, he propped himself against the counter along the wall. "So this is your fist appointment."
"Yes."
"And first pregnancy?"
"Yes."
He continued to skim down the paperwork in the folder. "And you believe you're about thirteen weeks along?" His perfectly shaped eyebrows raised above the folder.
"It was a surprise that went unnoticed for a while," Rose admitted sheepishly.
Healer Rhyn closed the folder and smiled as though her wait wasn't a big deal. "Alright, let's take a look. Lean back and lift your shirt up just past your stomach."
Hermione scooted her chair closer to Rose as her daughter leaned back and as she was told. Healer Rhyn waved his wand at the wall ahead of Rose; a large projector screen unrolled in front of her. Coming over to Rose, he stirred a potion bottle with a yellow bubbling concoction in it.
"Ready?" he said, pulling out the wooden stick and revealing the soft bristled end of a paint brush that he started to stroke along her lower abdomen.
Agonizingly, Rose waited as the screen showed nothing but a black blob. Healer Rhyn seemed unconcerned as he continued to move the brush, but Rose looked worried. His paint strokes were slow and steady, and every time he did another line nothing appeared. Everything was blank, as the brush moved further up her bump. Rose's face began to contort achingly, and Hermione reached out to grab her hand, giving it a squeeze.
Suddenly, a roaring whooshing noise filled the room at a steady repetitive pace. "We have a heartbeat," healer Rhyn announced, stroking the brush further up her bump. "And here—" he continued to paint as though looking for treasure. "We have a baby."
Rose darted her eyes to the screen, and her mouth fell open at the sight. "Oh…my…" she exhaled, the hairs on her arm stood up. Her jaw still gaped as she stared at the image of not a blur or cells, but of a baby. A round head tucked into its chest with its little hands twitching as they coddled by its semi developed ears; its knees folded tightly into its body. The head bobbed as its mouth opened and closed like a goldfish. It was no bigger than Rose's fist, and she had to remember to breathe.
Rose turned to her mother for the shortest of glances and whispered, "That's mine." The realization that she was already a mother sinking in.
Hermione had a dopy grin and glistening eyes. "Yes it is."
"Everything looks like it is right where it should be for thirteen weeks," said Healer Rhyn, taking his wand hand and dragging it across Rose's stomach, still maneuvering the paint brush. "Dose April third ring a bell to you?"
"It's my husband's birthday," Rose answered robotically, paying very little attention to the healer. Her mind consumed with the image on the screen, and the thought that maybe that baby would be the exception to her distaste in babies.
"Well, it also looks like it was your conception date." Rose blushed profusely, her eyes moving to her mother. "And December twenty-sixth looks like your due date, just after Christmas." He stopped moving his wand and brush charming the image to stay paused on the screen. "I'll be right back. We're going to take some blood samples from you and then you can go." He handed Rose a picture of the ultrasound, which she clung tightly to, and left.
Calming down from her original reaction at seeing the baby, frustration and anger began to consume Rose. "Mum?" she said, looking to her mother with narrowed dark eyes.
"Hmm," Hermione hummed, frowning at Rose's expression.
"If I murder Scorpius for not showing up, do you think you can get me off?" she asked, turning her eyes back to the picture. "I don't want my baby born in Azkaban."
There was a sports bar across the street from the auror office where most of the aurors ate lunch. It wasn't much. A few booths and a long counter with stools, but they had the best burgers for miles.
Scorpius wasn't really enjoying his burger that afternoon. In fact Scorpius hadn't really been enjoying food for the past few days. Still, he ate it as Mindy sat across from, talking about fifteen different ideas she could use to breach the collector's security—every time liking her new idea more.
"So what do you think?" she asked with a mouth full of fries.
Scorpius looked blankly up from his picked at burger. "I think you need to figure out what our plan is first before we decide to just go undercover."
Mindy's eye went wide, and she blushed with embarrassment. "I got carried away didn't I?"
Shrugging, Scorpius eased her. "We all get carried away with our first case."
"Well that's a relief," she said, lowering her eyes to stare at her folder, which was covered in hamburger bun crumbs. Smoothing her hand across the folder delicately, she grinned to herself. "I don't think I'll ever forget that July twelfth was my first case."
Scorpius' head shot up instantly—realization donning on him. "What did you say the date was?"
"The twelfth."
"Damn it." Scorpius said, glancing down to where his watch should have been and realizing that he must have put it in his locker with his other clothes. "What time is it?" he said urgently, yanking Mindy's wrist to him to look at her watch.
Mindy had a confused expression. "Whats—"
Scorpius dropped her wrist. "Fuck," he groaned, sliding out of the booth. "I have to go." He turned to leave, but it was too late because a rabid Rose with hate in her eyes was bounding towards him; her hair bouncing wildly as she walked.
Stopping—paying no attention to Mindy—Rose slapped her hand on the table and smirked. "Hi. Guess what you have a healthy baby whose due December twenty-sixth."
"Rose–" Scorpius tried to interrupt. All the aurors in the pub going quiet, listening in on the spat.
"And guess what else," she spat, still smirking. "You also have another ex-wife!" She whipped around, the ends of her hair causing a breeze.
"Rose," he barked, chasing after her.
Rose barged through the back exit—wand in hand—ready to apparate back inside her their apartment so that she could floo home. "There is nothing you can say," she shouted.
"Rose," he said again, running in front of her. "It was an accident."
"Once again, there is nothing you can say." Rose tried to walk around him.
"Please." He held up his hands to block her and desperately grabbed her shoulder, which she pulled away from instantly.
"YOU PROMISED!" she cried, stumbling backwards. "Unless you were lying on your death bed, there is no excuse."
"I got the days mixed up," he tried to argue.
Rose shoved her hands into his chest and pushed him backwards. "YOU LEFT ME THERE ALONE!" she screamed. "What if something had been wrong? What if there wasn't a heartbeat?" A pained expression crossed her face as she spoke. Her bottom lip sucked all the way in, her nose red and sniffling, and her eyes squinted at him as she failed to hold back tears. "This should have been the most important day of your life, and you missed it."
Scorpius took a tentative step towards her. "I swear it was an accident." He spoke in a soft, pleading tone.
Rose hesitated. "Wasn't last week an accident too?" His shoulders sagged, and his head bowed. Rose shook her head causally, throwing her hands in the air in defeat. "You know what, it doesn't. Like I said before, I'm done." She started to tug on her wedding rings. "You have fucked up and hurt me for the last time."
Holding her wedding band and the Malfoy ring in her palm, Rose shoved them into his chest. "Take them."
Scorpius' eyebrows wrinkled with hurt. The sound of his heart pounding in his ears. The ability to breathe disappearing. Glancing back up to Rose's eyes, she looked so sure of herself. "I'm not taking those," he argued.
"TAKE THEM!" she screeched.
Scorpius clenched his jaw together, adamant that he was not taking her weddings rings from her. "No," he stated firmly.
Rose's nostrils flared. Her hand trembled in front of them, and her eyes were hesitant. "Fine," she said after a moment in the silence. "Then leave them." She tipped her hand over dropping them two gold rings to the ground.
Scorpius didn't have words to argue. He didn't have the ability to comprehend. He didn't have the attention to focus on Rose apparating away from him. All he could do was stare at the rings she'd sworn never to take off and how they were shining in the ground, breaking his heart for the second time in his life.
A/N: As we know Rose overreacts, and when Rose over reacts she REALLY Overreacts, and this was her pushing point. Also I think Scorpius could benefit to having his heartbroken. That being said, they have hit rock bottom and all they can do is go up.
Also, I have question. Is anyone willing to beta Fighting Temptation or Confronting Temptation or both? The thing is I am over hearing about the grammar issues. I know they're there, and it bugs me to no end to know that they are there, and I literally cringe when I go back and read the chapters and see what a mess it is. The thing is that I wrote FT years ago and I was very young (like middle/high school), and I just didn't care about proof reading. This was something that I just did for fun and didn't matter to me what people said as long as people read the story. Well that has since changed and I want to clean it up, and even though I have the ability to do it, I simply do not have the time. I have requested for people to beta in the beta section but haven't received anything back so I thought I would ask you. I'm not looking for any major plot changes or even word changes (unless it is replacing a misspelled word with the correct form of the word). What I am interested in is simply cleaning it up. Add in some commas, correct the dialogue punctuation, and altering run on/comma splices to make them grammatically correct. If you are interested then PM me please. If you only want to do one story that is fine, or if you interested in possibly betaing Expecting just PM me. Thank you.