Chapter 11
It was midnight in London by the time Mindy and Scorpius arrived at the Collector's second museum. Scorpius liked working at midnight. The night made everything quiet. He thought better at midnight, noticed things in the silence that others would miss.
Though he'd never tell Mindy, coming to the second museum helped to clear his mind and focus only on the task.
They apparated into the living area and began to look around. Exploring the tiny flat that needed a good cleaning.
Mindy was digging around cleaning supplies in a counter when Scorpius called her to the bedroom.
"Why does he even own these if he doesn't use them," she grumbled, straightening the all-purpose cleaner and window washing sprays.
When she went into the doorway, Scorpius stood with the closet door open, his hands crossed and eyes staring at the floor.
"Find something exciting?" she said, sauntering over to the closet.
"Depends on your definition of exciting." He scooted out of the way, to make room for Mindy to see. She stood with her wand ready as though they were to be attacked any moment.
Scorpius only shook his head amused. He was all about being prepared, but sometimes he got the impression that Mindy wanted an attack. That her ambition led to a hunger to prove everything at once.
Mindy leaned her head into the door. "It's a box in the floor," she said.
"It's evidence," Scorpius corrected.
Mindy straightened her posture, flicking her wand hand up at the ready. "Can I blow it out?"
Scorpius waved his hand, disappointed that she wasn't a tad more cautious. Nonetheless, he knew from the box's structure that no damage could be done to the outside, he just didn't think Mindy knew that, making her impatience all the more reckless.
Mindy raised her arm, ready to twitch, when a thought occurred to Scorpius.
"Stop," said Scorpius, holding his hand out for Mindy to halt her wand work.
"What?"
He knelt down to the chest, tracing his finger along the magic sealing the lid. A wizard's mark was used. It happened often enough, but had little distinction. Wizards, like human's, tended to leave personal marks behind from their magic. Unknown things, such as the way a wrist twisted to leave a slight dent in an otherwise perfectly seamless strand of magic, or the hold of a wand so sturdy that it left a ding on a piece of furniture.
It was something that most wizards weren't even aware of but taught during Auror training. The one on the box was similar. A paper-thin blimp as though it were a piece of wrapping paper with an air bubble caught in the tape.
"Look at this?" said Scorpius.
Mindy knelt down, pulling her hair aside to keep from falling in her eyes. "You recognize it?"
Scorpius stood, scratching his stubbled chin. "From somewhere, yeah." His eyes narrowed in on the box as he tried to recall where he'd seen that mark before. There was something so familiar in the spell work.
Mindy jerked up and spun in her signature heels turn. "Awesome. Can I blow the box out of the wall now?"
Shaking his head, he caught on to Mindy eagerness. "Go ahead," he said.
"Yay," cheered Mindy, clapping her hands and doing a small bounce.
Scorpius chuckled, smiling for the first time in days.
"Mrs. Malfoy," said healer Rhys, after he was done examining her belly, "It would be nice if you would come to an appointment without having to reschedule it."
"Last week was a bit of a disaster," said Rose, in a hollow attempt to make an excuse. Sitting up on the table, she wiped the gelled potion off her stomach with a cloth—careful to not make eye contact.
Blissfully, he didn't pry. He stood near a counter and took note of information in his chart. Tapping his quill, he hummed while continuing to look at her ultrasound picture frozen on the screen.
"Is something wrong?" asked Rose, diverting her eyes from the healer and staring at her little bump while lowering her shirt.
"It's a bit small for eighteen weeks but its heart is strong." Rose, suddenly aware of a heaviness across her chest, gaped in attempt to think of a question. "I don't see any reason to be concerned currently," he added before she could ask. "Are you eating enough?"
Rose wasn't one to log her daily food habits but she also didn't go hungry so she felt comfortable in saying, "Yes."
"How about stress?"
"I'm always stressed," she said.
Rhys nodded. "Try and eliminate some of that okay?"
Rose nodded but knew that was impossible. Even if she quit the case, that would create more stress for her. At least with the case she knew every aspect of her father's situation. She maintained a semblance of control with it. If she gave it up, she would be in the dark, left worrying and allowing her mind to wander to far worse conclusions.
"Anything else?" she said, sliding off the examination table.
"You're all set."
Rose went to grab her bag, crossing it over her shoulder. "Thank you," she said, taking her chance to leave before he said anything else to her.
Rose walked down the two stories and made countless turns until she ended up at her dad's room. It donned on her as she plopped down in a chair that she didn't even have to think of the directions.
Across the room, Hermione sat with a book open and her arms tucked into one another.
"How was it?" she asked, turning a page before she looked up to her daughter.
"I'm too stressed," Rose commented, staring over to Ron and noticing the added clusters of grey to his hair. She found it unsettling how only weeks ago the grey was barely noticeable but now a few more patches had sprouted up. Grey at the root and red at the ends, Rose wondered if when he woke up would he let it grow naturally or resort to hair coloring potions. She didn't allow herself to think about the phrase if he woke up.
"I had trouble with stress as well. It's the Granger gene, we're not very good at handling it," said Hermione.
"He also said it's small." Rose didn't know what to think of that. No amount of books had given her information on that subject. So far, her reading focused on the average. She'd need to do a bit more research on the subject to determine if she should worry or not. She made a mental note to stop by the book store later in the week and pick up a book on the topic to read during one of her hospital sittings.
Hermione's lips clasped together, creating a fine line. "Although nothing," she said carefully, "It might be wise for you not to go to these appointments alone anymore."
"Well talking to Scorpius hasn't really been an option lately," she shot back before noticing how shallow the remark was. Embarrassed at sounding like a silly school girl, she corrected her statement, "I meant that Scorpius isn't exactly happy with me at the moment, and he may not lower my stress levels."
If anything, he may raise them. Since their argument at the diner, Rose was nervous about the state of their relationship. She dealt with it the way she knew best; write him consistently and avoid the disappointment when he never responded back. Over a week went by and still she heard nothing.
"Am I interrupting," said James, peeking his head through the door.
"Nope," said Rose.
He walked in carrying a thin file folder. "Grabbed this from the labs before I left the office," he said, holding out the folder to her.
"Toxicology?" she asked.
James nodded, crossing his arms as he waited for Rose to read it. "It's not blood," he said.
"It isn't." Rose raised an eyebrow, eager to look at the results.
"I mean it is but it's not."
Rose skimmed through the two pages, ignoring a lot of the technical jargon and jumped straight to the consensus.
She popped her head up on the final paragraph. "It's not human or animal."
"Yup."
"So, it's man made." Rose glanced back up to the technical jargon now that she had an understanding of what they believed to be going on. "And infused with magic."
Though the liquid contained magic, it displayed signs of odor and lacked capabilities of combating standard spells. In fact, even simple dueling spells seemed to have a great effect on the magic.
"And it's spoiled," she added, closing the folder—not the slightest bit shocked that the case involved replicated wizard's blood with rotten magic.
"Can magic even rot?" asked James.
Rose thought back to the few wizard anatomy books she'd read. "Theoretically yes, but it's complicated. Magic is inside us. It's like a gene. It would need to be…" Her mind thought the word extracted and it donned on her. "Scorpius mentioned a body that had been stripped of it's magic. I wonder if this is what came out?" she concluded. "If magic is extracted it could take on an unhealthy consistency."
James and Rose stared excitedly at each other. They had one piece and Scorpius had the other, meaning that for a brief moment they might be ahead of the collector and Sebastian's plans, except that Scorpius refused to talk to Rose.
James sighed, "Rose, we can't work on half a case anymore. From what you've said Malfoy has evidence on this body, Sebastian's partner and a connection. If we are going to stay ahead, we need to look at his files."
Rose could name a hundred other horrible takes she'd rather complete then ask for Scorpius' files. She averted her eyes to her mother—who had kept unusually silent during the meeting— curious if she could gage her opinion.
Hermione, well aware that Rose had taken on her father's case, didn't say much on the matter other than be careful. Rose knew that her mother disagreed and wanted to say more, but she also knew that Hermione was not trying to drive a rift between them again.
Even before reconnecting with Scorpius, Rose spent nearly six years removed from her family. The current situation was the most they had seen her, and Rose knew that her mother feared if she spoke out of place then she might leave again.
Rose felt guilt over the divide. In the same way that she wished Scorpius could have trusted her, she wished that her mother could do the same. Hermione, for the most part had always been fairly open, and Rose had no one to blame but herself for their fractured relationship. She didn't know how to appease both sides but she wanted to try.
Biting her lip, she said, "Mum what do you think? Was dad even close to figuring out this case?"
Hermione looked up from her book, surprised to be asked for advice. She pondered the question before answering, "Honestly no. This case has been all over the place, and Senior Sebastian was continually two steps ahead. I think if your father had the chance to be ahead like you do, he would have taken it."
Rose looked back to James. "I'll ask for the evidence." she said, unsure how to approach the conversation.
The inability to sleep for Scorpius was nothing new. It gradually became better with Rose. A few nights a week he would manage a full eight hours, but it wasn't uncommon for her to wake up in the middle of the night to find him sitting in their library reading a book.
When times were good, she would crawl into his lap, lean her head onto his chest and close her eyes as he continued to read. Everything felt safe when she sat there with him. As moments passed, she spoke in an attempt to get to the bottom of why he wasn't sleeping. A lot of time it was work; towards the end it became the secrets that he kept from her.
On one particularly rough night, she came in and wrapped her arms around him, kissing along his neck until he gave up his desire to read, dropped the book to the ground and said, "Are you attempting to seduce me?"
"Always," she smirked, straightening her posture yet somehow sitting closer to him than before. "I made you something," she reached into her robe pocket and pulled out a large vile of indigo blue goo with a conglomerated group of bubbles piled at the bottom.
"Poison?" he asked, taking the disgusting bottle.
"Sleeping potion," she corrected with a smirk. "A strong one too. Don't take it faintheartedly. It'll knock you out faster than a Nimbus."
"Not firebolt?" he countered.
"No." She shook her ponytailed hair playfully. "Nothing's faster than a firebolt."
"I love that you know that," he yawned; the heaviness of his eyes contradicting the activeness of his mind.
Rose stroked her fingers up and down his arm, making no motion to get up and leave. "Try to go to bed?"
"I'll just lay there."
Her fingers stopped moving at the collar of his shirt. "I didn't say we had to sleep." She tugged.
Scorpius raised his eyebrows and wrapped both his arms around her, giving a slight bounce to position her explicitly over his lap. "Now you're seducing me?"
Rose tipped her head back with a giggle. Enclosing his cheeks with her hands, she tipped her forehead to meet his. "Come to bed and find out," she whispered, slickly crawling off his lap and walking towards the bedroom. Scorpius watched bewildered, only Rose could make purple and green striped pajama bottoms the most arousing article of clothing he'd ever seen.
Scorpius resented the months old happy memory as he pulled the same sleeping potion from the medicine cabinet of his bathroom. This bottle was a reminder of how happy things were for a short while. How close they came to almost having everything.
Rose had written again today requesting a time to talk. A week had passed since their argument at the diner, and he knew he behaved selfishly. No matter the shambles of their marriage, she was still his wife. He still loved her more than his heart could bear, and she was pregnant with their child.
He just couldn't put pen to paper. Every time he attempted to write the words became jumbled and non-existent. Rose did what she wanted to do. He couldn't forbid her from working, but he had a right to be upset and didn't think that Rose understood that.
All of this weighed on him, along with the continued exchange of letters with Mr. Gentry as he and Mindy attempted to arrange another meeting. Hence the need for the sleeping potion. Tomorrow was Thursday, so technically he was off—although when working on a case, the structure of the work week varied— so this was a good night to take it. Rose was right about the potion; it wasn't for the fainthearted. It knocked him out within seconds and kept him out for hours. If any one called, wrote or flooed he'd never know.
Rose had a way of magically stoppering her bottles so tight that it sometimes took a corkscrew to open them. Tonight was no exception. If Scorpius thought he could perform a spell to open the bottle he would have. However, his brain felt empty, his eyes burned with every blink and he hardly had the energy to lift his wand.
Not often, but sometimes, the muggle way was easier. He turned the bottle around in his grasp, tugging on the stopper between every stop of a turn. He had nearly forgotten how tightly Rose liked the jam these stoppers in. An average person would have no luck, but Scorpius wasn't exactly weak—little by little it loosened its way up.
Sitting on the edge of his bed, he would have about thirty seconds after this sip to lay down and get comfortable. Wincing at the sour gunk sliding down his throat, for a brief moment Scorpius was more awake then he had been the whole day. He turned the stopper over in his hand, trying to put it in the bottle before sleep consumed him, and that's when he noticed it.
His eyes narrowed in on the cork and the small Wizard's mark that was near the top or in this case Witch's mark. The tiniest blimp of a bubble right there in the center where a wand would have touched it to push it down. How could he not have recognized the mark in the museum days ago? He was surrounded by it in every corner of his apartment. Rose's mark.
With heavy eyes he threw the potion across the room and went to sleep.
Scorpius woke that Thursday morning angrier than before he fell asleep. The thing with sleeping potions was that they didn't always give the results one wanted. Yes, they put you to sleep, but if your brain was active enough then your dreams could be anything but peaceful. For the better part of eight hours, Scorpius relived the revelation that occurred. Stuck in an infinitely looping moment with morphed backgrounds and objects yet the same outcome, that Rose had not only taken a case but knew it was his case. Apparently, she had decided to throw protocol out the bloody window.
He was irate. He was angry. He… He couldn't stand around this apartment all day and think about it. He needed to work, to beat her to the conclusion because that's what they were doing best right now: pitting themselves against each other.
So, he went to work, on his day off. And when a single person questioned it, he gave such a growl, that no one spoke to him again.
When the workday ended, he changed into his workout attire, went down to the gym and proceeded to lift weights until the muscles of his body felt numb; pushing a weight far heavier than he typically did.
"You good partner?" asked Carla coming into the same weight lifting room. Also her day off, she came to the gym every day.
Scorpius let go to the metal machine, the weights clattering loudly together. He shot up and yanked a towel off a rack. "I'm fucking brilliant," he seethed, stomping into the locker room.
Carla took a seat at a leg station and mumbled, "So he knows."
Scorpius didn't bother to shower or change. He wiped the towel across his face and underarms, then grabbed his bag to leave. He knew he should stop back in the gym and apologize to Carla, but at the moment he was having a hard time comprehending any emotion other than rage. If he said something today, it would probably come out as a snare and do more damage than good.
He stared at his feet the entire time he walked out of the building only to look up the moment he walked outside. The sound of horns honked in the distance, birds cawed and feet clacked by. For the first time that day he felt he could breathe, taking in the semi-fresh air of the city and inhaling.
At the moment he was more than lost on what to do. He was angry and hurt, and on top of everything else, this was all too much. He had no idea where to proceed from here, though when he looked across the street the answer came to him.
Rose leaned against a building with her leg propped up on the wall. Though starting to show, she wore skin tight jeans, a bright red blouse and brown boots that cut at the knee. Her wild curls were pulled back into a sleek ponytail so tight that the top almost looked straight.
The outfit made a statement for him to notice her. The only accessory she wore was a gold watch, which she looked at as though keeping time of his lateness. She must have noticed him staring because she lowered her hand and met his eyes.
He diverted his path to her direction, doing the best he could to not look directly at her. Staring at Rose was like looking at a mirage in the dessert. It was beautiful and wonderful but only led to disappointment. And in truth, he knew they were on the brink of another argument, which he didn't want to have.
She pushed her back off the wall using her foot. Straightening, she wobbled but focused her posture by clasping her hands together in front of her. Scorpius knew she was nervous.
"Hi," she said, as he hopped onto the sidewalk.
Hi," he grumbled, dropping his bag on the stained concrete prepared for battle.
"You've been hard to reach lately," she said, trying not to sound bothered.
He pressed his mouth together and scrunched up his eyebrow, curious if he was supposed to actually respond to that.
"I went to the healer earlier this week," she continued, clearly resigned to not getting an answer.
Scorpius' ears perked up with interest. "I thought you were going to tell me when you had these appointments?" he accused, knowing that he didn't give her the chance too but wanting to put more blame on her.
Rose didn't take the bait. "The baby is about the size of a bell pepper," she said, tilting her head to try and catch his eyes. "Well, a little smaller than that actually.
"Is that bad?" he asked, taking a moment to glance at her chin before looking down.
"He's not worried. Says I should alleviate some stress."
"Will you take his advice over mine?" he asked, garnering up the strength to meet her eyes.
Rose tilted her head up to stare at the skyscrapers overhead. She thought that she wanted him to look at her but when he did, all she saw was anger. His eyelid narrowed to the point that she could barely see the blue of his irises, and his nostrils flared while the top of his lip twitched. This was worse than when he refused to look at her. "Scorpius," she tried, but he shook his head.
"Of course not because you're going to do what you want to do. Isn't that right?"
"Will you please listen to me,"
"About what? Are you here to tell me that it's my case because I figured that one out on my own?" He jutted his chin out, glaring at her, waiting for a response but she stayed quiet. "What's worse is that you know how dangerous this is. I told you months ago and you were scared for me. But now because it was your dad's, suddenly your Rose Weasley impossible to kill is that right?"
"I tried to tell you," she said, hoping to hide the sting in her voice at being called Weasley instead of Malfoy.
"It doesn't matter that you tried to tell me. You shouldn't have a case!" he yelled. "When are you going to get that through your head?"
"I've always been headstrong," she said as her defense. "Don't act like this is some new trait that's suddenly materialized."
"Since you're stubborn you don't have to follow any of the rules? You're not the first auror to be pregnant. These rules are there for your safety."
"I am being safe."
"Involvement of any kind with these people isn't safe."
"Nothing about our jobs is safe. We work with criminals constantly. From now until the day I retire we'll never be completely safe. What am I supposed to do, quit my job?"
Scorpius sighed, bowing his head and staring at his sneakers, black with green stripes. He didn't know what he wanted. Rose's job was everything to her, and he knew that he couldn't keep her out of danger, but this case was different. This case presented a real opportunity of an early death that some of their other cases hadn't, and he wanted her out of it. It wasn't just about Rose anymore, there was a little person who was going to count on her the rest of their life, and he couldn't make her understand that.
"Scorpius, I need to ask you a really hard question," she said, taking the quiet as an opportunity.
"What," he mumbled, dropping his head even farther than before.
"Would you give me access to your case files on the collector?"
Scorpius shot his head up, bewildered by the request. "Are you serious?" He didn't know what upset him more. The fact that they had a brief moment of calm, which she ruined, or that the whole purpose of her arrival was to ask this question, which she knew would anger him.
Regardless of the situation it garnered the same answer, "I'm not giving you access to them."
"This is a good chance for both of us," she attempted to level her voice to sound practical. "I'd give you everything I have. My dad's files and mine."
"I don't need your dad's files. My work on my case has gotten far enough on my own," he reasoned, truly believing he could accomplish the case without assistance.
"It's only gotten you halfway there, and whether you like it or not I have the other half. Be reasonable."
At that he lost it. "Be reasonable!" he yelled, raking his hands through his hair as though it may be able to enlighten his brain to her logic. "None of this is reasonable. You're going to get yourself killed just like your dad!"
"He's not dead," she hissed back.
Scorpius knew he shouldn't have said it, but his rage took it too far. "LOVE, HE'S NOT LIVING," he shouted, knowing it was harsh and not caring.
Her nostrils flared as anger spread across her pale cheeks. "Fine," she said sharply. "Don't give them to me. I'll get them myself."
"What does that mean?" he asked, but she didn't answer.
Rose pivoted on her heels and walked away. The scuffling of her shoes against the pavement deliberately saying, this isn't over.
Scorpius stumbled towards the front door. He hadn't slept great after his fight with Rose but in the wee hours of the morning— when his eyes stung to keep open—he attempted a nap and managed to succeed, until a most obnoxious rapping on the door woke him.
The knock, a persistent clatter, continued until he swung the door open.
"Coffee," said Carla, thrusting a to-go cup of strongly dark liquid into his face.
Scorpius eyed the cup and then her hands, noticing how not a single knuckle was red from her banging.
"So. you know what's going on," he stated, taking the cup from her and widening the door.
She walked in, sipping from her own cup of coffee. "I'm somewhat aware," she said, changing the trajectory of her eyes.
Scorpius let the door close behind him as he ushered her into the open floored kitchen and living room. He stopped at the refrigerator, pulling out creamer and adding a generous amount. Rose preferred her coffee the blacker the better, but he needed something to his. He poured until the mixture went from black to nearly white.
"So," he said, keeping his back to Carla. "Did Rose send you?"
He turned to see Carla sitting at the island with her elbows propped.
"You're joking right? She's furious at you." She tapped her manicured nail to the half-empty cup. "I came on my own."
"I'm not exactly thrilled with her right now either," he said, leaning on the other side of the island, mimicking Carla's elbows.
"You know, you're not alone here right now. You're still my partner even if we're not working together right now."
Scorpius smiled at the first words of comfort he had heard in a while. "So, she doesn't have priority?"
"Listen, I love Rose, the good and the bad, but I don't think you're on the wrong side of this fight. I'm not sure if it is the right side but it's not the wrong one." She stared down to the coffee shop logo on her cup, tracing its circles and stars with her thumb. "The point is that my friendship with Rose doesn't influence my friendship with you."
"What does Matt think about all this?" he asked, already knowing the answer.
Carla snorted. "Matt always takes Rose's side. Unless it's a fight between Rose and me, then he better take mine." She smirked, giving a cocky little flounce of her short blonde hair.
Scorpius laughed, then dropped his face into his palms— the coffee doing nothing to combat his tiredness from the night before. He aggressively rubbed his eyes.
"Is it possible for us to be so wrong and so right at the same time?" he yawned.
"What do you mean?"
Dropping his hands, he thought about it. The separation began because he couldn't bring himself to trust Rose not to break his heart again. He understood that he was in the wrong. What happened in school shouldn't have reflected who she was now and the undeniable fact that she did choose him. Yet, he couldn't help himself. If their differences had only stayed about that he'd be a lot more optimistic right now. Instead they swirled ridiculously out of control to the welfare of a child and who punished who the most.
Thinking back to the last two months, Scorpius could hardly keep it straight how they got to this point. It didn't even feel like he was fighting to get her back anymore. Now they were just fighting and blaming and… He closed his eyes.
"I don't really want to talk about Rose."
"That's fine," mused Carla. "So, how's Mindy?"
"Oh Merlin," he slapped his hand to the counter. "She's going to get herself killed if she doesn't slow down."
"Yikes. That bad?" she asked.
He shook his head. "No, she's not bad. She's actually very good and shows a lot of promise." Scorpius sighed, thinking of the right words to describe her. "She's in such a hurry to prove herself that she just misses some of the details."
"Cases are in the details," agreed Carla.
Scorpius scrunched his lips together. "You know who's good at the details?" he said, hating the answer.
"Rose," stated Carla.
"Yup," he grumbled.
They stared at each other, sipping coffee and letting the answer hang in the air.
The sound of a phone buzzing on the entry table, broke their friendly silence. Scorpius walked over to the hall and picked up the mobile that he'd discarded when he got home the night before. He looked at the almost dead battery and then the name of the caller: Mindy.
"Hey, what's going on?" he asked, expecting an update on the case that just couldn't wait until tomorrow.
"Scorpius," said Mindy in a frantic tone, "They're everywhere."
"What? Who?" He heard a commotion of voices in the background shouting words like clear and evidence.
"Your wife," she snapped. "She's here with a group of aurors and they're here and they are tearing everything apart."
Confused, Scorpius asked, "What do you mean my wife."
"Rose," Mindy shouted, finished with trying to explain. "She's here and she's taking all our evidence. Just get down here."
The phone went silent, not allowing for Scorpius to ask any more questions. He turned back to Carla who sat with wide eyes.
"What's happening?"
Scorpius pinched the bridge of his nose. "I think Rose got a fucking warrant," he growled. "I've got to get over there."
"I'm coming with you," said Carla, as Scorpius headed towards the fireplace wearing the sweats he'd slept in and untied shoes without socks.
"Are you mental?" yelled Scorpius, rushing into the office from the fireplace down the hall. "You scheduled a raid?"
Carla, who came in behind him, covered her mouth in shock.
"I bloody hell did," she glared, overseeing as Albus, James and a team of other aurors with London badges came upstairs carrying evidence boxes from storage below.
"You can't just come in here and tear the place," argued Scorpius, coming in front of her and blocking her view.
"This warrant says I can," she said, holding up an official looking piece of paper and slapping it onto his chest. "You want to play this game? Fine I'll play. You have evidence to a case that I need access to. Personal feelings aside, there is a serious danger out there that you are hindering the investigation of. Never mind the fact that this is the case of Ronald Weasley, an international treasure. So yeah, I can just come in here and tear the place apart."
"Personal feelings aside, huh?" Scorpius fumbled to open the paper.
Rose fumed and turned to an empty handed auror. "You, I need that drawer and that one open now," ordered Rose, pointing her finger between Scorpius and Mindy's desk.
"Which files?" said an Auror from the London office.
"All of hers, it's only her first case, and anything of his that is labeled collector. Take everything to the conference room."
The group of wizards, along with Albus and James, carried box after box of information into the conference room. Rose stopped just outside the doorway and turned to the office.
"Matt," she yelled.
Matt, standing dumbfounded, almost went to attention at her bark. "It's not my case," he reasoned, but his voice faltered.
"Just get in here." She waved her hand to the room as though it were a simple request.
Matt looked to Carla and Scorpius and conceded, walking into the meeting room. Next, Rose looked to Carla and raised an eyebrow.
Carla reached out and squeezed Scorpius' shoulder. He turned to look at her, his eyes pleading and empty as though he were alone in the world. She shook her head. "I'm staying neutral," she said.
"Fair enough," said Rose, walking into the room and slamming the door.
Scorpius stared in shock. He felt gutted, as though the air from his lungs had been sucked out, and the only organ that worked was his pounding heart. He barely registered the folded warrant in his hands—no more than two pieces of paper, it resembled the weight of a thousand-page book.
He threw it to his desk and turned to Mindy. She sniffled while attempting to shield her tear stained face. "Why is she so mean?" she said between gasps.
Carla came beside her and started rubbing her back, making a soothing noise. "It'll be ok."
He looked at both the women unable to come up with an answer. Out of all the things Rose had done lately this one was more than mean, it was vindicated. This was a side of her that he hadn't seen since their Hogwarts days; a part that he had hoped to never see again.
His mouth opened in an attempt to say something but he didn't get the chance.
"Scorpius!" Rose shouted, standing in the doorway. "Are you going to come inside, or am I taking the case from you completely?"
He sighed, shaking his head in defeat. "Mindy you need to pull yourself together and meet us in that room."
A/N: Hello again. I told you it wouldn't be long. I hope you enjoyed the update. I know that things are going rough for Scorpius and Rose but things will turn around eventually! Let me know what you thought. Thank you for reading and keep safe.