Chapter 9

"You didn't have to walk me home," said Rose as she walked at a lagged pace next to Scorpius.

Scorpius simpered, looking from her to the corner they were rounding that led into a well concealed subdivision entrance. "I wanted to."

In truth, this had been the longest they had spent together since she'd left New York, and he wasn't so keen to let it end so quickly. Rose rarely wanted to spend time with him at the moment, so if she was willing to have him around then he was going to take as much time as he could.

They walked further through the neatly planned subdivision with houses so close together that with outstretched arms a person would be able to touch two at once. Rose reached for his hand and tugged him down another even less concealed street, with no street lamps or even moonlight shining upon it.

"Interesting protection spell," he said. "Hidden in plain sight."

Rose smiled broader than Scorpius had seen her that night. "My mother is a very talented witch."

"I've been told." He gave a coy smile. "Like her daughter."

"Sweet talker," muttered Rose.

Scorpius snorted. "You like that about me."

"I really do."

The warmth of her hand constantly reminded him that she was holding on to him, captivating his attention like a school girl.

"So this case you're working on," started Rose.

He looked away from their entwined hands and to her face, the lack of light making it hard to read her expression. "Yeah?"

She shrugged, turning ahead. The dark street they were on had narrowed into a worn dirt path. "What's it about?"

At some point Scorpius knew he was going to have to give her the details of his case, he had just hoped that it wouldn't have been so soon, especially since not even two hours ago she had admitted how stressed she was with worry.

"There's a muggle collecting magical artifacts."

"And you can't just confiscate the artifacts and do a memory charm?"

"He's part of something bigger, with another person." The silence Rose gave indicated that she was waiting for him to elaborate. He cleared his throat. "He's extracting magic. At least we think that's what he's trying to do."

"That's weird," she said in a drawn out breath of air.

"He hasn't succeeded yet," he said as though it made the topic any better.

They'd stopped walking. Rose faced him—the moonlight now able to shin on them again—her eyes narrowed and focused. "I'm assuming he's not draining the magic from charmed knickknacks is he?"

"There was a body."

Rose staggered back, her hand going slack in his. "And you're going undercover—"

"Monday," he said quickly.

Her lips pressed together into a grimace. "Not much to say besides be careful."

"I wouldn't ask you to quit a case Rose," he said, and Rose nodded in agreement.

They started walking to the pace of a slug, moseying along, buying spare time. A few houses began to appear in the distance with large amounts of woods between them. She turned to another dirt path which lead to a house atop a hill.

"So this is where you live."

Her house had a cozy charm about it. It was not huge by any means but of average size for any family. The exterior was blue with red shutters and roof, and a white wrap around porch with plants that had been magiced to live through all seasons.

"You've seen it before," replied Rose.

Scorpius chortled. "I never seen the front."

"Oh…well," she stopped at the front stairs and turned around to face Scorpius. "I really enjoyed tonight."

He was mindful to stay on the gravel in front of the house. "Ditching a class was fun?" he mocked.

Rose laughed. "It was a nice change."

Scorpius looked up at her. The step she stood on made her almost as taller than him. "Want to ditch the next one?" It would have been an odd angle to kiss her from, but he found that he wanted more than anything to know what kissing from that angle would feel like.

She placed her hands on his shoulders, a sly smile on her lips. "Show up and you might find out," she said coyly.

He grinned, moving his hands to her hips, about to lean up to kiss her when a flash of bright flamed blazed through the front windows, the sound of a crackling floo fire extinguishing distracting him. Scorpius stared past Rose, a steady yellow lamp glow filled the windows now and a shadowed figured moved about the living room.

"It's only mum coming home." She turned to the window as well, looking through the curtains. Her eyes lit up as she turned back to Scorpius. "Want to come in? Have some tea or coffee?" she asked, her voice no longer playful but welcoming. "Mum wouldn't mind the company. She likes a good chat when she gets home from the hospital."

"Uh…" His mouth hung open, attempting to think of words to say. He had never formally met Hermione Weasley, whose books he had read since childhood or who had unknowingly signed a copy to him, which he regarded as a most prized possession. But he wouldn't be meeting the author of his favorite books, but instead the mother of his wife. His wife who had chosen to be with him over her own parents.

Scorpius backed away from Rose. "I really should get back and prepare for Monday."

"Right," she said disappointed, walking up the rest of the stairs and to her door.

Scorpius had already started to make his way down the road when she called after him. He spun around, and watched her stand in the doorway.

"You can always knock if you need anything. This door stays open to family."

She spoke confidently as though she had never said anything truer in her entire life, and only when he nodded did she close the door.

"Alright," Harper said early Monday morning holding out a tiny earpiece that was about as big as fly and a small battery pack that connected to a microphone. "These are so that we can stay in communication the entire time."

"I hate working with muggle technology," groaned Scorpius, getting inside a renovated delivery van that had been repurposed for the F.B.I.'s needs. He began to strip off his shirt, grabbing a battery pack and securing it to his belt to look like a mobile holder.

"Well seeing as how he falls under my jurisdiction I can't really explain wands to a court room full of people. I have to have real feasible evidence."

"He falls under both our jurisdictions," said Scorpius, taping the wires of the microphone to his stomach.

"Nice abs," said Mindy as she appeared in the doorway of the van.

They were parked about two blocks away from where they were supposed to meet the Collector. Initially Mindy had come up with a plan—and in Scorpius opinion a rather good—that involved utilizing surveillance charms and extendable ears, but Harper argued against it. The Collector was more in tune with magic than most, and could more susceptible to a magical presence. Just until they knew how in tune they were Harper wanted to play it safe and use muggle gadgets the first time, and since Scorpius had promised Rose that he would be careful, he agreed. Mindy was the only truly against it.

"I'll let my wife know you approve," said Scorpius as he put his shirt back on.

Mindy laughed, ash she lifted up her shirt revealing her midriff.

"So remember were not prodding for information today," said Scorpius pointedly to Mindy. "We are just introducing ourselves, getting an in."

"I know, I know." She turned around from the boys to clip the microphone to the cup of her bra. Lowering her shirt, she pulled the wrinkles free. Once finished she lifted her head, took a deep breath, and announced, "I'm going to vomit."

"Never pegged you as the nervous type," said Harper.

"Just breathe and try not be so abrasive."

"Easy for you to say, you're always calm," she retorted aggressively, jumping out of the van.

Scorpius looked to Harper in the front seat with an uncertain expression, and hopped outside. Mindy was balanced against the Van, her legs bent as though she were sitting in a chair.

"Mindy?"

Mindy turned her head away from Scorpius, and wrapped her arms around her stomach. She doubled over, and Scorpius thought she really would vomit. He waited several seconds as she took massive heaving breaths, but she never threw up.

"I'm fine," she said between breaths.

"Sure?"

Mindy gagged but nodded.

"Alright," he huffed, pulling her hair out of her face as she gagged again—sure this time that she would actually vomit, only she didn't. He waited until she no longer gagged before saying, "You don't have to do this if you don't think you can."

She sat up and closed her watering eyes.

"I can get Carla to come with me," he suggested tenderly. "But I need you to tell me."

Mindy turned to him and Scorpius could see the debate in through her closed eyelids. Her expression lax as though about to agree, but Scorpius' phone rang and she kneeled over again and actually threw up.

Scorpius gave a heavy sigh and answered his phone. "I miss you," he said bluntly.

Rose giggled on the other line. "Bad morning?"

"Not great." He looked at Mindy as she vomited orange chunks all over the pavement.

"Should I call back?"

Harper jumped out of the Van and dragged a nearby garbage bin in front of her. "There, there," he said, patting her back—his face cringing every time she heaved up more vomit.

"I rather you stay on." Scorpius turned, queasy from the scene.

"Do I want to know what's going on?"

"Nope." He climbed into the van and started to dig through a storage box for a napkin. "So you're up early."

"I wanted to catch you before you went in," she sounded embarrassed.

Scorpius snorted, but had a large nondisapproving smirk on his face. Ever since Thursday evening, Rose had made a point of calling at least once a day. "Well you did," he said softly.

The line was silence, filled only with breathing.

"Do you have everything ready?" she asked.

"Am I prepared to your standards, probably not." He poked his head out the door to see Mindy standing upright, using the wand in her hand to remove vomit stains from her shirt.

Rose said nothing, and Scorpius could picture her silent internalized debate about what to say next. He sighed. "We are going in as a brother sister team who has recently inherited a witch's estate. We are hoping to gain Randolph Gentry's trust as he helps us to organize it and hopefully lead us to an introduction to Senior Sebastian. Relieved?"

"Surprising not," she said sarcastically. "Do you want to have dinner after work?"

Scorpius stopped his search for a napkin. "With you?"

"That was the idea."

"In London or New York?" He saw a roll of paper towels crammed at the bottom of the box.

Rose deliberated. "I could come to you."

"Sure," he said, his voice enthusiastic.

"Alright." Rose repressed a chuckle. "And be careful."

"Yeah."

They exchanged quick byes, and he hung up the phone and crawled out of the van. "Here," he said, holding the paper towels to Mindy. "Feel better?"

Mindy ripped off a towel and wiped it along her mouth. "Considerably."

"Good." Scorpius put his phone back into his pocket. "So should I call—"

Mindy shook her head fervently. "I'm good."

"Sure?" Harper and Scorpius said together, staring at each other.

She nodded. "Just a nervous habit."

"That's disgusting," said Harper, as he walked to the driver's seat. Scorpius looked to Mindy in disbelief, his confidence shaken.

"Let's go," Harper yelled out the window, "But please, no puke in the van."

"You look ill," said Stacy as Rose walked to the healer's station at St. Mungos to sign in as a visitor.

"That's…nice," she said taking a visitors pass from Stacy.

"I just meant that you don't look yourself."

Rose stuffed the pass deep in her bag where a number of passes had started to collect. "I know." She looked up at Stacy, pushing a curl out of her face. "Do you like it when Bryan tells you about his cases?"

"Not particularly."

Rose nodded frantically. "Yeah, because you worry, like a normal person." Her nods turned to shakes. "I don't worry about Scorpius. Not like this. I know what he's capable of. I've seen it, but this time—" Her head dropped. "Something feels off."

"It's natural to worry, especially when you're in a delicate situation."

Rose glanced at her stomach and brushed away the thought. "That's not it. As an Auror this feels off."

"If you're worried that he'll get hurt like Ron, the chances of that happening again are rare," claimed Stacy.

That wasn't it either. She was worried for Scorpius' safety, but her concerns were deeper than that. There was something else that was bothering her. Something that she couldn't place. She tapped her fingers and stared distantly down the hall. Her eyes focusing on the stark white door that led to her father's room.

Her strumming hastened. "How rare is my dad's situation?"

"Exceedingly."

Rose slapped her palm on Stacy's desk. "Because it was a baby basilisk."

"Yeah…" Stacy looked concerned.

"How could I be so stupid," Rose said to herself, tipping her head back and loudly announcing, "It's a baby!"

Stacy looked from side to side at the healers and patients that has stopped to take notice of the scene. "Right," she said calmly. "Rose are you—"

"I have to go," she said, her eyes bright as though they had been unveiled.

Stacy opened her mouth to speak, but Rose had already rushed out the door.

The Collector's office looked no bigger than the standard lavatory one would find in a coffee shop. It had a glossy white marble exterior with a hint gold luster that complimented a small plaque to the left of a teal front door. On both sides sat high-rise office towers that obscured the little building from passer buyers, which Scorpius assumed was intentional.

"I thought you said you found him in a museum?"

"I guess it's his private office," said Mindy.

He walked up to the plaque and read: Randolph Gentry, Dealer of Fine Art.

"It's definitely him," said Scorpius, and he looked over his shoulder to Mindy.

Her gaze whizzed along the small building as she gnawed on her bottom lip.

"I think I may have rushed this."

Scorpius stepped back, next to Mindy. "It's too late for that opinion now," he said, his arms crossed.

Mindy looked back to the building, her lip still stuck between her teeth.

"Just remember how excited you were to have a lead," said Scorpius. "Think of it like a book, every new page is another piece to the story.

"I hate reading."

"Well that's a shame," he said, placing his hand on her back and nudging her to the front door.

The same marble tiles followed through to the inside, covering the floor, walls and front panel of a receptionist desk. The only thing not glossed in the white marble was a set of ornately carved oak doors and the slender redheaded woman who sat at the desk in front of them.

The woman looked up at the sound of footsteps stood from her seat and stared at them with a kind smile.

"The Carvers?" she asked brightly.

"Yeah," said Scorpius, matching the same pleasant tone as the receptionist.

She nodded politely and pressed an intercom button that was built into her desk. "Mr. Gentry, your ten o'clock is here," she said and took a seat back at her desk.

Scorpius looked at Mindy and saw her standing oddly to the side of the room studying what looked to be a dedication on the wall. He came up next to her.

"Anything interesting?" he whispered.

"No." her voice cracked. Scorpius eyed her nervously, and glanced to the receptionist who hadn't noticed.

"Relax," he mouthed, as Mindy breathed deeply. He reached into his pocket and grabbed a small piece of orange candy. "Eat this," he placed it in her shaky hand. "It calms the nerves."

Mindy popped the candy in her mouth and closed her eyes.

The large oak doors opened, and they turned to face the tall man who walked out of them. He had a stern expression, that made his gaunt features more pronounced, and he had on a pair of thick rimmed glasses that covered the sunken shape of his eyes. "

"Sorry for making you wait," he said in a smooth tone. "I had some business to take care of."

"No problem," said Scorpius, leading he and Mindy towards the man. "I'm Derek Carver and this is Hailey."

"Pleasure," Mr. Gentry said, holding out his hand to Mindy. "How did you come across my name?"

His hand hung in the air, waiting for Mindy to shake it. Her cheeks had gone stark white, along with her knuckles. Scorpius chanced a look at her and saw her eyes so wide that her eyelashes touched her brow bone. She was speechless, and he could sense the silent panicking in her breathing.

"Excuse her," Scorpius said, stepping slightly in front of Mindy, shielding her from Mr. Gentry's scrutinizing gaze. He took the man's cold hand. "We've had similar conversations before and most people think we're lunatics."

"If you're here, you might be."

Scorpius released his hand. "We were told to contact you by another curator at the Bond museum. We have a rather…interesting collection."

"My taste is very specific," said Gentry,

Scorpius met Mr. Gentry's almost white irises. "So are our needs."

Mr. Gentry smirked. "Then let's chat." He beckoned the two of them further into his office, past the large oak doors.

Scorpius placed a hand on Mindy's back to led her into the room. She jerked wildly at the motion.

"You still eating that candy?" he whispered as they walked. Mindy attempted to nod.

Randolph lazily sunk into a large maroon chair, his skinny body seeming to be swallowed by the oversized cushions. He waved his hand to a matching couch in front of him.

"Thank you," squeaked Mindy.

Sitting down, the couch forced them to sink back as well. Mindy seemed to calm in the relaxed state. Scorpius gripped on to the arm handle, trying to maintain some semblance of posture.

"Tell me about this collection that you have."

Scorpius glanced to Mindy and saw no intention of speaking. Leaning forward, he said, "We recently inherited an odd estate. A few years ago my great uncle married a rather…" he paused, raising his eyebrows, "eccentric woman. She had the tendency to buy objects that didn't seem entirely normal." Scorpius played the part of an oblivious muggle to perfection.

"She had a clock of locations instead of numbers, and portraits that looked as though they had moved in the flash of an eye but when you looked back were completely still."

Mr. Gentry turned to Mindy. "And have you seen any bizarre occurrences?"

Mindy gulped. "Some," she managed and turned her face a way.

"Like I said," intervened Scorpius, "we've seen things that would make most think we're crazy."

"Right." Mr. Gentry sat up without a struggle. "Tea?"

"Herbal if you have any," said Scorpius.

The man pressed an intercom box on the table between the them and ordered an herbal tea, and coffee for Mindy, whom had interjected at the last moment.

"So exactly what kind of price are you looking for your collection? I would still need to examine it, but if it's what I think, then I'm sure we could come to a reasonable number."

On que, Mindy bolted up, color returning to her face and she looked to Scorpius and smirked, almost laughing at the man.

"You've misunderstood our intentions," she said casually, as though she had been taking part in the conversation from the beginning. Scorpius's hand clinched into the side of the couch. He stared at Mr. Gentry's suspicious expression at Mindy's sudden chatty behavior.

"See," continued Mindy in a fast voice, "The longer we looked for a buyer, the more we realized how rare the estate was. And the more we saw what it could do…"

Scorpius knocked Mindy in the knee and passed it off as a playful interaction. She stopped talking, realizing what she had done, but this time she smiled as though everything was natural. She placed her hands on her lap and said in a calmer tone, "It's a relief to have someone take us seriously."

Mr. Gentry's eyes remained fixated on her, his stony face expressionless.

Scorpius cleared his throat, calling Mr. Gentry's attention back to him. "What she meant is that we're not wanting to get rid of the collection, not anymore."

"Really?"

"We're wanting to invest."

Rose hurried to Harry's office. Her lungs burned after she apparated to ground floor of the building and ran up five flights of stairs. She caught the attention of her cousin James, who tried to ask what was going on but she ran past him, and straight to Harry's office.

"Rose!" yelped Harry in surprise, as she came bursting through his door.

"Whatwasmydadworkingonlast?" She asked in one breath, doubling over into his doorway, her hands crossed over her baby bump.

"Huh?" he said, standing from his desk.

"What…" she panted, "was…he…working…on?" Harry kept his distance as she breathed heavily towards the ground. "I…know…about…the…basilisk." She moved her hands to her knees, breathing ferociously.

"How?" He looked out the doorway at prying eyes. "Come inside." And he waved his niece in, closing the door that she'd blocked.

"You know what I'm talking about." She said, having caught her breath. She straightened him, her chest still rising and falling profusely but able to talk.

"Water?"

Rose shook her head, too hyper to drink.

Harry transfigured a vase into a water goblet anyways and filled it with replenishing charm. He pushed it into her hands. Rose stared down at it annoyed.

"Please don't patronize me," she said, placing the goblet on top of a filing cabinet next to her.

Harry pursed his lips into a stern expression. "What do you know?" he asked.

"I know daddy wasn't bitten by a basilisk." She crossed her arms convinced she was right.

He walked back to his desk and sat down. "Sit please?" Rose relinquished and sat in the chair opposite Harry's. "How do you know that?"

"A basilisk is a centuries old creature. They aren't just born," she said logically. "What was he working on?"

Harry rubbed his hands over his face, through his thinning hair, and grunted as though he stretched. "A few months ago in Yorkshire we heard of sightings."

"But it's not real."

"It's synthetic," said Harry, lowering his hands. "Man made from an ordinary snake egg injected by magic and hatched in lab."

Rose was quiet, thinking back to what Scorpius had told her about his case and the murdered women's magic being extracted. "This isn't being done by a wizard is it?" she asked in a low tone.

"Correct."

A sickening feeling came over her as she continued to think about Scorpius' case. "And is the muggle's name Senior Sebastian?"

He gave a single nod and reached into his desk. "He fled when he caught wind of Ron. Set the basilisk loose as a trap." A thick file emerged from the drawer with crumpled papers sticking out the edges.

Instantly, Rose recognized the sloppy handwriting of her father on the cover of the folder. It was marked Senior Sebastian. Harry handed it to her. The missing key to Scorpius' case sat in her hands.

Randolph's reaction to invest concerned Scorpius. Part of Mr. Gentry seemed enthusiastic to help but he also spoke very wearily to Scorpius and Mindy throughout the rest of their meeting. In the end he promised to call later that week with his decision to help them or not.

They walked the two blocks back to the van in silence. Mindy stared at the pavement, her neck hidden behind her chin.

Coming up to the gray windowless van, the side door swung open, and Harper stood with his hands stretched over his head. "I'm surprised you're still breathing from how bad you choked," he said to Mindy.

Mindy scowled and she shoved past him, knocking him off balance. Harper looked to Scorpius. "What the hell did you give her?"

Scorpius could hear Mindy ripping tap off her stomach and throwing the wires and microphone into the front seat.

"A magical nerve relaxer," he said.

"So what happened?"

Scorpius looked back to Mindy. "Apparently under her nerves was excitement, and she couldn't control it." She pulled her legs up into her chest and laid her head on her knees, facing the window. "I'm going to go talk to her."

Harper nodded and turned around, to fiddle with a gadget in his hand. He handed his own microphone and earpiece to Harper before he climbed into the van and made his way to where Mindy sat.

He sat down in the seat next to her, and she pretended to ignore his presence.

"I had to eat five of those the first time I went undercover."

"Liar," she said, keeping her head turned away.

Scorpius adjusted his position. "It's true. I was so nervous that I had trouble remembering my cover story."

She flipped her head to the other side, looking up to Scorpius. "Did you throw up?"

"Uh…No," he admitted. "But I did start speaking French midway through." He leaned over, balancing his elbows on his knees. "Still not sure how I managed to go from English to French on accident."

"Really?" Mindy smiled appreciatively.

Scorpius nodded. "Completely blew my cover. They had to send in another team to finish the case, and I thought I was going to be fired."

Mindy frowned and twisted her head to look at the floor. "Do you think I blew the cover?"

Scorpius looked back to an eavesdropping Harper. "Don't know."

Rose sat tucked away in her father's office, the thick file folder in her hands. She sat in the corner like a child and leafed through it, reading small snippets of information, her mind too overwhelmed by thought to fully comprehend.

Although Scorpius and her father were working on the same case in the eyes of the law the ministry they were separate cases. One was focused entirely on Randolph Gentry while her father's, which had no mention of Gentry, was focused solely on Senior Sebastian. This was why Scorpius could never find any leads on Senior Sebastian because the case originated in another country, under another jurisdiction, and under a very powerful head of department who wanted the case sealed until he knew what to do next.

The moment she was finished reading it, she knew what she had to ask her uncle. It wasn't just about wanting to ensure Scorpius' safety, but also fulfill a vengeance within her that she couldn't seem to let go of now that she knew the truth. What she was going to do she saw as her duty to her father. The way she saw it, this was her case from the beginning, and if there was a chance that she was never going to speak to her father again, never get the chance to try and make things right between him and Scorpius or even patch things up with him herself, then she was going to be the one to put the guy who did this to him away.

She closed the file and slunk back to Harry's office. He had his hands clasped, sitting at his desk, as though waiting for her.

She sat down silently, laying the file between them, and remind quiet as she attempted to formulate the words.

"You know what I'm going to ask," she said, staring at the file.

"And you know you are breaking a lot of rules," he countered.

Rose met her uncle's eyes. "Please reopen this case for me? You can have me listed as a temporary replacement."

"Rose you're pregnant. Don't you at least want to discuss this with Scor—"

She shook her head defiantly. "He won't get it. I can do minimal field work, and I will have to be a lot more careful, but if you put Albus on with me, he will have my back. He always has, and I would trust him with my life."

Harry gave a reluctant sigh. "I don't—"

"I have to do this. You can't just tell me that my husband and comatose father are working on the exact same case and expect me to do nothing." She slouched back into her seat.

Harry put his hand over his mouth, tapping his chin as he deliberated. "If I let you do this, I'll have to give you limitations on what you are allowed to do?"

"Of course," Rose said eagerly, sitting up.

"And I'm putting James on with you and Albus, that way he can pick up some of the field duty that you won't be doing." He eyed her pointedly.

"Even better," she announced.

"Also," Rose gave a loud groan at Harry's incessant rules. "I expect you to do the right thing and talk to Scorpius."

"I will," she pleaded, her hands in a prayer like position. "Just give me the case."

He closed his eyes, as though still in debate, but in the end he agreed.

A/N: Alright, so I'm back. I'm sorry for the extremely long wait. I just got caught up with school and graduating and to be honest I simply didn't have the time to think about fanfiction.

Now, for all the people who are going to point out how hypocritical Rose is being, let me say that she is aware of this and is not exactly proud of it, and second, the hypocritical nature of Rose telling Scorpius to be careful and then she goes and does the opposite will be addressed either in the next chapter or the one after.

Anyways if you are still there, thank you for reading. I will try to never go that long again without an update.