Chapter 10
"Rose?" said a shocked Carla, swinging the door to her and Matt's apartment open.
Rose stood there, mid-ferocious knock, and slipped inside. "I've done something," she declared franticly, spinning on here heels.
"Rose, what—" said Matt, standing from the couch, the television remote in his hand.
Rose took another deep breath, attempting to calm the pounding in her heart. "I've done something and Scorpius is really not going to like it." She began to pace the living room as though she were talking to herself more than to Matt and Carla. "He's really not going to like it."
Carla took a tentative step towards her, catching Rose in a pivot and steadying her shoulders. "What did you do?" she asked as gently as possible.
Sighing she tilted her head back and sucked in her lip. "My dad and Scorpius' case is the same."
Carla gave a looked that urged her to continue. Matt on the other hand already knew. Staring knowingly into her eyes he said, "You didn't."
Bowing her head in defeat, Rose couldn't take the scrutiny.
"What did she do?" asked Carla still intrigued.
"She took the case from him," he stated, crossing his arms.
Carla gave a dramatic gasp, covering her mouth with her hand. Even in the wizarding world pilfering someone else's case load was frowned upon.
"Well don't be that dramatic," said Rose, "I just have a large piece of the puzzle."
"Can't you just tell him and let him handle it?" asked Carla.
She shook her head adamantly "If my father dies and I do nothing…" she couldn't even think of how to end that sentence. She'd be grief stricken, overwhelmed with guilt, potentially unable to forgive Scorpius for adding to the distance. Rose turned her back. There were too many possibilities to an outcome that she wasn't willing to consider at the moment.
No, at the current moment she had to deal with how to tell Scorpius. How to tell him in a way that would be delicate and almost respectful. She told the truth when she said that she hadn't completely taken the case from Scorpius. Technically London couldn't interfere with New York's cases, but they did have every right to keep a case open that had occurrences in their own district, which is what Rose was doing.
She walked over to the window and stared at a late summer storm setting in the sky. Globs of heat lightening blinking in the purple blue sky with no strikes being made. Pellets of rain started to splatter a soft pitter patter against the window.
"Scorpius will understand right?" she turned back around; her eyes heavy with worry.
Carla and Matt looked at each other. Both full of questions as to how she planned on doing field duty while pregnant or how she got the case to begin with.
Carla was the one who broke the silence and moved toward Rose. "He loves you very much," she said, wrapping her arms around Rose and pulling her into a hug. "He's going to react on worry. It's not just about you but…" he eyes fell to Rose's stomach.
"I wouldn't put it in harm," she whispered, "but this has to be me. He'll have to forgive me."
Scorpius had been surprised that Rose was willing to floo to New York for dinner. With the time difference he assumed it would be him who had to travel, but when Rose called earlier that afternoon to make the arrangements, she had been adamant that she come to him.
Calmer than he'd felt in a while, he took a shower before dinner, finding a pair of jeans and a black shirt to throw on. His case was out of his hands at the moment. Mindy and he had done everything they could to get Randolph Gentry to invest with them, if he declined then they would discuss other options, but until then Scorpius decided not to worry about it.
Finally feeling as though he was making progress with Rose, he left early to meet her, grabbing his umbrella before leaving the apartment.
She'd picked a burger place right down the street from them—a frequent place for them before she'd moved out. He wasn't particularly in the mood for a burger but he wasn't about to argue with his pregnant wife. Besides they had a pretty good vegetarian menu there as well.
When he arrived to the sparsely populated joint, he was surprised to see that Rose was already waiting for him at a booth tucked into the back of the main room. This being a muggle restaurant meant that they could talk about other things in the corner without being overheard.
She sat with her forehead resting in her hand, as she closed her eyes. He thought that she looked even more tired than before, which he didn't think was possible. Reaching the table, he wanted to bend down and kiss her head but instead stroked his hand over her shoulder.
Her stiffness from before subsided as he felt her relax and lean into him, lifting her free hand to cover his. Squeezing it, she turned her head to face him with a small smirk.
"Took you long enough," she quipped.
Scorpius chuckled. "I'm here ten minutes earlier than you said." He slid into the opposite side of the booth and reached out to take her hand, which she gave him.
A nearby waitress came by to take their orders.
"I'll have the deluxe burger with no veggies and extra pickles," she said without looking at the menu. "Also, can I get the salt and pepper fries along with the chili fries."
Scorpius raised his eyebrows but didn't comment on the order. The waitress turned to him.
"I'll have the veggie burger and instead of fries I'll have an arugula salad." He handed the menu back to the waitress. As she walked away, he turned his focus back to Rose. She gave him a scrutinizing stare as she pulled her hand away from him to cross her arms.
"What?" he asked to the look.
"Have you given up meat all together," she stated it more than asked.
A part of Scorpius' heart pinged. This was something his wife of all people should know the answer to. "No. I guess I've just been meat light lately," he said, not actually able to recall the last time he had eaten meat.
Rose's idea of cooking was ordering food and pulling out a plate. In truth with her no longer living with him, Scorpius could eat the way he preferred: steamed vegetables, dried fruits and occasionally tofu, which he could never get Rose to try so he went without. Their kitchen was actually being used for something other than potions.
"You alright?" he asked, surprised by the criticism.
"I'm fine." Rose shifted, reaching out to take his hand again. Her eyes wavered between his before they shifted down to the streaked marked table. "I need to talk to you about something."
Scorpius hand tightened on Rose's. "The baby? Is there something wrong with—"
"No," she said quickly, patting his hand and then releasing it. He noticed how strategically she moved her hands, as though she were in a business meeting. Scorpius had worked with her enough to know that she only did this when she was preparing to state facts or evidence.
"I'm getting the feeling that this isn't just a nice dinner out is it?"
She gave a weak smile. "So Albus is taking over my father's case… and I'm going to be his partner."
Scorpius tapped his knuckle on the table, refusing to lower the glare that was permanently fixed on his face. "Are you waiting for me to state the obvious."
"Scorpius please just listen—"
"You're pregnant," he stated
"Yes but…"
"What but! How is there a but?" He leaned over the table. "You're pregnant," he enunciated his words.
Calmly she spoke, "Uncle Harry has given me special—"
"Oh, uncle Harry," he slammed his fist to the table, creating a loud enough bang that other patrons turned to look. "Damn it Rose, I don't care if Merlin himself gave you special privileges, this is dangerous." He stood, bumping the table with the abrupt movement. "I haven't done much research, but I'm pretty certain a fetus wouldn't survive basilisk poison."
Scorpius stormed out the door and stood outside, the rain pounding on his clothes, but he hardly noticed.
"Take this," said Rose a few moments later, opening her umbrella and holding it over him. He stepped out from under it and whipped around to face her.
"Have you lost your fucking mind?" he said to her.
Rose bowed her head and stared at her feet.
He remained silent, thoughts running through his head. All of them fleeting except one that continued to push to the forefront of his mind. "Is this pay back?" he asked.
Her head popped up. "How can you think that? Scorpius just let me explain."
He crossed his arms and shook his head. "I don't want to hear it."
"Oh, that's rich." She shot back. "Finally, when I have something to tell you, you don't want to hear it!"
Scorpius glared. "For over a month I've been listening. Done everything you ask. You want space, I give it. You want me to be there for you, I'm here." He waved his arms. "You keep punishing me. We keep punishing each other, and it's never ending." He ran his fingers through his hair.
"What are you saying?"
"Maybe we aren't supposed to be together. Maybe there's just too much damage between us," he sighed, his voice becoming calm, "Bloody hell Rose, you've done everything to push me away and maybe I'm just too stubborn to read the signs."
Rose's lip trembled. She couldn't deny that. She couldn't deny how she felt, which was vulnerable and hurt. She also couldn't just forgive him for the way he betrayed her. Yet she meant it when she said, "I love you."
Scorpius closed his eyes as though unable to bear the repercussions of what he was saying, "It's never been about a lack of love." His eyes lingered on her stomach. "Regardless of what you say, you are punishing me. Not only do I get to worry about you, but I also get to worry about…" His shoulder's sagged, and he started to walk down the street.
"Where are you going?" Rose pleaded.
"Away from you," he said, not turning back.
"He knows I've taken a case. That's about all I got out before he stormed off."
"So, you haven't told him which case," said Albus.
Rose shook her head.
She sighed and took in the tiny flat that they had broken into moments before. Albus and James had done the recon over the past few days, while Rose stayed safely tucked away, pouring over her father's files while diligently sitting at his bedside. Scorpius hadn't given her the chance to explain that she would be doing little to no field work. In fact, though she was partnered with Albus, most of her role would consist as advising, while James would do all the field work that she was incapable of completing.
That said, once Albus and James said that the flat was clear of inhabitants for them to search, Rose was hell bent on not being left behind. Scorpius' lack of information wasn't because she withheld it. It was because he wouldn't give her the chance to explain.
"He knows it's my dad's, but not that they're connected." It wasn't for lack of trying though. She tried to contact Scorpius at least once a day since their fight three days ago but he had apparently mastered the art of avoidance. No matter what method she tried, she always seemed to miss him. "I've written him twice and called him at least five times."
"So, your next step is?" asked Albus, lifting up cushions from the couch, only to find out that this person preferred to eat in front of the television—the cushions concealing bits of crumbs, eggs and orange peel.
"Bombard him at home," surmised Rose. She walked to a chair and picked up a dusty Nome figurine on the table. "I'm going to give him a couple more days before I do that." She put the figurine down. "This man's a slob," she said disgusted.
"You're telling me," said Albus repacking the cushions and attempting to avoid the rotting smell emitting from them.
"Will you two stop talking and come look at this? I need help levitating it," said James, coming out of the only bedroom. "Besides we are here to work and I've got plans."
"Vivian?" said Rose with a sly smile.
"Nope, tonight is with Rachel," mumbled James leading them into the bedroom and opening the closet door.
"Is Vivian aware of this?" asked Rose giving Albus a look.
"She is well aware." James motioned for them to raise their wands. "We're non-exclusive. It's called having a healthy dating life."
"Right," scoffed Albus and Rose in unison.
"Know what?" said James, lowering his wand. "I don't need judgement from the two of you. You're married but living with your mum and you—" he whirled around to Albus. "I can't even begin to list your problems with your boyfriend, faience, hidden secret. Take your pick."
"Touchy," grumbled Albus, following his brother and lifting his wand to what was in the closet.
Built into the closet floorboards was a large lead like box, that looked as though it would weight more than all three of them combined.
"Wingardium Leviosa," they said in unison, swishing their wands.
The floorboard creaked and splintered as the box shifted free from the boards. Larger than they expected, the metal edges scrapped against the back wall and broke the door frame as it pulled forward.
"So that's going to need some damage control," said Albus.
"I'll do it," sighed Rose, "but let's first look inside."
"Great idea," said James sarcastically. "Now any idea on how to open the box?"
Rose and Albus stared at the box, now emitting vapor from the seal.
"That thing is magicked shut," said James, cockily crossing his arms.
"Noticed," said Rose.
Mindy peered over Scorpius' shoulder as though mildly paying attention to what he was working on.
Scorpius hunched over, placing his elbows on his desk and cradling his forehead into his hands. He rubbed his temples, out of all days to not want to deal with anyone, today was a particularly stressful one. He understood that Rose was attempting to smooth things over and considering the current state of his marriage he probably should have responded by now but he just couldn't.
In what had recently felt like a constant back and forth of betrayal, he was exhausted. Along with exhaustion he was worried. Now more than ever. He couldn't figure out how they had seemed to get to this point. Before they got married—before he hid the letters—they had managed to find themselves back to one another after so many years. How could they have accomplished that to suddenly now realize that maybe that weren't good for each other.
It was a reality that Scorpius had recently considered. That perhaps no amount of love could make up for the fact that this was a constant pattern. He was scared of losing Rose so he sabotaged it. Then she, finally seeming to come around to Scorpius again, goes and take a case, which could harm their baby. Then of course there was the thought of the baby.
The baby that he desperately wanted to be around and raise from the moment it was born.
He rubbed his temples, not in the mood to talk to anyone, in particular a chipper Mindy.
"Guess who sent a response," she said spinning around and half sitting on Scorpius' desk, nudging his elbow out of the way.
Scorpius glared but obliged. "Are you really going to make me guess?" he said less than thrilled.
"Dear Mr. and Ms. Carver after giving your request quite a bit of thought, I would be delighted to have you invest with us. I will make arrangements for you to meet my partner in London later in the week as he is arriving tonight and seemed quite excited to hear about the two of you."
"You know what this means?" she said, dropping the letter in front of Scorpius.
"That your lack of acting didn't completely ruin us last week."
"You're mean," she commented, "and no. It means that we have an opportunity to go browse his London Museum," she air quoted.
"Why would we do that today?"
"Because we may not get another opportunity,"
"There's more to it than just showing up. We don't even have the address Mindy."
"You don't,"
"And how did you get this information?"
"I use my eyes,"
I was thinking if we use the departments memory fountain,"
"Pensieve," he corrected.
"Right. Then we might be able to collect the address off of Gentry's desk."
"That's not exactly how Pensieves work. They can only collect what you can remember."
"Exactly, when I was in the middle of ruining my act, I paid a lot of attention to his desk. Now I may not be the best actress in the world, but I do have a remarkable memory. I have memories from the crib."
"Fine," he relented. "If you can get the address get it."
It took a three-part spell and oddly intricate wand waving for James, Rose and Albus to open then locked box.
The first thing that stuck Rose was the pungent odor seeping from the inside. If it were a daily prophet illustration, green and brown squiggles would have appeared.
Rose twisted her lips. Her stomach rolled and grumbled until the acidic sludge of bile started to rise up her throat. Pushing herself out of James and Albus' way, she ran to the sink in the kitchen and vomited.
Instantly her head felt light and stomach gutted. Propping herself up against the sink, she waved her wand to the window in front of her, sliding it up.
"You alright?" asked Albus standing by James in doorway—the both of them covering their noses.
Rose felt hot and sweaty, while her hand trembled as she attempted to regain herself. However, the urge to vomit once more tingled throughout her stomach. Gripping the window seal, she hung her head out, gasping for fresh air.
"Here," Albus said, coming up behind her. In his hand he held a square lozenge for her to take.
Shaking her head, she splashed some water onto her face. "What is it?"
"Odor eliminator. It'll help with the nausea."
"I don't know if I can eat that?" she mumbled closing her eyes.
"It's fine," said James, "Uncle George created it for Angelina when she was pregnant."
Rose took the lozenge and popped it in her mouth, turning to balance her head on the cool window glass. As she rolled the candy in her mouth, she felt the nausea subside and nose sensors dulled.
"We need to examine that box and get out of here," she said, determined to net let her hiccup disrupt any more of the case.
Albus looked as though he wanted to suggest for her to wait outside but decided against it and instead nodded.
They walked back to the room. The box had transformed it insides to pop up like a table as though it were a traveling workstation. Its contents laid out neat and orderly. Vials were spaced out and filled with a twinkling liquid that resembled blood with the exception of the sparkle. Colorful beakers and powder jars were arranged by a Bunsen burner. However, the worse was in the center. A long skinny unevenly polished white stick with swirls carved from end to end sat like a prize on a pillow.
"Is that a wand?" said Albus, stating the obvious.
Rose got closer to examine. "Carved from bone," she said.
"This is witch doctor magic."
"Makes sense, if he's interested in what we can do then he'd be interested in other forms." She hoped that it was a witch doctor and not the alternative, which was that he was dabbling in some very dark matter.
"Rose," said James, "It's your call, do you want to confiscate it or leave it?"
She looked at her cousins, tapping her arm as she thought through all the options. "I'm going to replicate a vial of that blood and switch one of the tubes out?"
"Rose this isn't normal blood," said James in protest.
Rose was already pulling out a pair of gloves from her pocket. "And I'm not a normal witch," she said.
"What about the wand?" asked Albus.
"You're going to work on chipping off a sample."
a/n: So I have some explaining to do. After 3 years you deserve it. First I have to tell you that not only did I lose touch with FanFiction but I lost touch with writing. It was like losing a part of my soul and I plan to not let that happen again. Second, this story hasn't been my main priority, I am currently working on my own works but I couldn't give this up. Every time I have writer's block I always switch back to FanFiction. I also couldn't let go because from the day I started these stories when I was sixteen to now (I'm 28), I have maintained that I would never abandon this story. Those of you who continued to reach out to me over the years, you are the ones who kept compelling me to finish. You do deserve the ending and I am prepared to give it to you. I hope you like what I have. I know it may not be what you were expecting but more is to come. Please let me know, I still thrive with reviews.