Disclaimer: JK is not a Muggle engineering student. I am. And we do spend far too much time thinking about springs.

"I've just had an interview with -"

No. Too specific. Besides, he didn't even know who he'd have the interview with. And if he gave a name, Rose would probably suggest 'looking into his case' and realise he was talking absolute rubbish.

Waiting for an interview? No, that suffered from exactly the same problem - she worked in the damn office, she could find out whether they were hiring anyone in seconds.

He did still need an excuse to be waiting here, though. The International Magical Office of Law wasn't a place people popped by for a quick casual visit. Maybe he could say that he wanted to request an interview with someone - which could, if he played his cards right, lead to Rose spending time on his case. And, by extension, with him.

Except that if he seriously applied for a job, as he no doubt would have to do to keep up that facade, the Ministry would investigate him. And realise there was no such person as Edgar Spore...

He'd work it out when she came out. It was still only half-past four, after all - plenty of time for him to think about what to say. Bletchley hadn't been in the office today, so Scorpius had taken the opportunity to get creative with his office hours. In his defence, though, he'd worked through his lunch hour reading research papers, so he figured he deserved an early finish today.

The spring Rose had given him was still in the pocket of his robes. He fished it out, squeezing it experimentally between his fingers. It wasn't a large spring - about an inch long, and rather thin, and he must have sat on it at some point because it was bent slightly near the top. Oops. He tried to bend it back, but it kept jumping back into place.

Muggles were rather intelligent creatures, he thought. They didn't have magic, but they came up with some very interesting ways of getting around that handicap. Muggle science in particular had some very interesting ideas about Time, ideas that Scorpius had a feeling might help him in his project.

If he could just get his head around that 'relativity' thing...

He held the spring up to the light. He wasn't quite sure where they fitted into Muggle science. They seemed like rather common, everyday objects, used for practical purposes rather than understanding deep theoretical concepts. But apparently Muggle students spent quite a lot of time studying them!

The one long conversation he could remember with Rose's grandfather had been about springs. Arthur had been fiddling with the wheels of what was apparently a new type of Muggle car, for a reason he'd explained but Scorpius hadn't quite understood. Springs had featured quite prominently at the time, though. Arthur had been trying to understand a Muggle journal article about the contraption, but even between the two of them they hadn't been able to figure it out. The authors would write two sentences, then fill the rest of the page with some arcane language Arthur had delightfully called 'mathematics'. If they'd been able to work that out...

It probably would have helped with today's articles, too. Scorpius had had to abandon quite a few of them due to complete lack of understanding of the language, let alone the concepts. He'd finally found a few he could understand, but he had a sneaking suspicion from the large diagrams and colourful text that they weren't quite aimed at professional researchers...

Idly, he pushed the spring in and out between his fingers, timing it against the ticking of the clock in the empty foyer. Once or twice someone would come out of an office, but Scorpius had long since mastered the art of looking inconspicuous. No-one blinked an eye at his presence.

Quarter to five. He counted down another minute with his spring. This better damn well be worth it. He'd been waiting here for nearly twenty minutes now, not including the time he'd spent down on level 9 in preparation.

Wait.

Quarter to five?

It was Friday. He cursed under his breath - then cursed himself for not knowing any decent swear words -

How had he forgotten about their Friday coffee meetings? He was waiting up here like an idiot while Rose and Finch had been sitting in Diagon Alley.

Alone.

They hadn't had a Friday date in a while, that was the problem! There'd been that brief meeting a couple weeks ago, but they'd all been so busy with work that their regular meeting had fallen by the wayside. But Rose had made him promise to come this week after their picnic on Saturday, and now he was already fifteen minutes late -

And he was only half an hour into his transform! He'd have to wait another thirty minutes, at least, before he could go down. And they'd have gone to Florean Fortesque's, too, which meant he couldn't even send a memo - Merlin, why had he never invested in an owl?

He jumped up. He had to do something.

Last Saturday had been wonderful. Just him and Rose and the sunrise. And the large hamper of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes' mostly confectionary-related goods. Rose had been completely right - they hadn't had a chance to catch up in a long time, which was a completely ridiculous way of romancing a girl, when he thought about it. A whole day on a picnic in the woods, on the other hand...

And she'd said she wasn't involved with Finch! Sort of -

"Not in the way you mean." What was that supposed to mean? On one hand, she'd given him a very direct no. But she'd seemed... evasive. Like there was something she wasn't telling him.

He couldn't believe Rose would start any sort of relationship with Finch without telling him. And even if she had, she would have told him on Saturday.

But maybe she was being evasive because she wasn't in a relationship with him, but she wanted to be.

Just like Astoria had said.

But that didn't matter. As long as nothing was official. Besides, she'd seemed perfectly comfortable to tease him about thinking about her. And that was practically flirting!

Even if she had ruined it by saying she wasn't interested in Scorpius either.

He tugged at his sleeve, knowing it was useless. Last Saturday had indeed been wonderful, but the one thing he was trying not to think about was that there was something between Rose and Finch, no matter what she'd told him, and the more time they spent alone together in secluded ice-cream shops the more that something would grow.

Twenty minutes, if he'd taken the correct dose. He felt his spirits lift - it would take him at least ten minutes to get changed and Floo to the Leaky Cauldron anyway. With one last look around the room, he strode out, heading for the elevator. It was probably less risky to change back on the busy Atrium floor...

"Hey, Malfoy! Finally! What kept you?"

Rose laughed at Finch's comment as Scorpius approached their table. "You work in a room literally filled to the roof with clocks. How could you of all people be late? And for chocolate sundaes, no less!"

He sat down opposite Rose, scowling at both of them. "Shut up, you lot, I got caught up in something." Yeah, Edgar's oversized robes, in that damn cramped bathroom stall...

Finch shrugged. "We don't mind. Gave us the chance to talk about you, didn't it, Rose?" He raised an eyebrow at her, and she blushed.

"Got a date for the dinner party yet?" she teased. "Because both you and Finch are going, and I'm sitting awkwardly on the sidelines waiting for someone to ask me..."

"I asked you a month ago!"

She took a sip of her sundae. It really did look delicious. "That was a month ago, mate, the invitation's probably under about four feet of parchment on my desk. Feel free to ask me again, though."

"Not until I get my hands on one of those sundaes." He signalled to a passing waitress. "Merlin, I've had a busy day."

Finch smirked. "What's it feel like, having to do work like the rest of us?"

"Shut up. I do work."

"Was it actually related to the Department this time?"

"Yes."

"Did it involve any of the three Time-Turners that mysteriously went missing from the trainee cupboard the other day?"

"Oi, how do you know about that?"

Rose laid her hands out over the table, laughing. "Boys! Behave! This is an ice-cream shop, not a Potions brawl."

Scorpius pretended to resist, but his heart wasn't in it. It was nice having Finch back. More to the point, it was nice being able to talk to Finch without suspicion looming over the conversation. He wasn't going to totally relax yet, but things were looking up. And what had Finch said when he'd sat down?

"Gave us the chance to talk about you, didn't it, Rose?"

That little blush of hers had been very interesting...

He sat back, whistling. "So. What's new in the world of Rose and Finch?"

Rose shrugged. "Work. Picnics. Naked cousins. Same old, same old. Finch?"

"Not much - no, wait!" He snapped his fingers. "D'you hear about Bletchley retiring?"

What? That was news to him. "Since when?"

"Since today. He announced it at the conference this morning."

Ahh. The conference. The Third European Conference on Forward Time Travel, an annual gathering of wizards who went to Paris for three days to talk about - well, not much at all, forward time travel considered impossible by almost everyone in the Magical research community. Scorpius winced, a little guiltily. "Forgot about that, actually. I've been wondering why Bletchley hasn't been in the last few days."

"I didn't even know he was going, to be honest," Finch admitted, as Scorpius' sundae arrived.

"Neither did I, and he's my boss!"

"I think," Rose told them sanctimoniously, "that both of you need to start keeping up with current events in your departments if you wish to advance in your professional careers."

"Hey! I -"

"No fair, I -"

"And that is all that will be said on the matter, thank you both very much, since this is a work-discussion-free zone now that we are all adequately supplied with chocolate."

Finch snorted. "He's been adequately supplied with chocolate for five minutes now, and you haven't noticed."

"I may have been too engrossed in my caramel sauce to pay attention to your arguments. Which doesn't mean my point is any less valid."

"What are we supposed to talk about if we're not allowed to mention work?" Scorpius asked. "Because none of us at this table lead particularly interesting lives outside of it..."

"Oi, speak for yourself, mate, I've got plenty of stuff going on!"

Rose and Scorpius looked at him, disbelievingly. "Yeah?" Scorpius asked. "And don't say Paris, because that was -"

"Not Paris!" he protested, putting his hands up. "But -" and here he leaned forward, a conspiratorial smile on his face - "the City of Love was not a bad first guess..."

"You've found yourself a girlfriend!" Rose squealed, and once again Scorpius was reminded that his best friend was very definitely a girl.

And judging by that comment...

"Shh," Finch whispered. "Not yet. I'm not saying anything. I haven't got anywhere with her yet. But -" he winked at Rose - "I'll be sure to let you know when I do."

Okay, that wink had been totally unnecessary. But this was very definitely a Good Sign. If Finch was hanging after someone else...

Well. No-one liked having someone like Finch as a rival. This certainly made it a lot easier to be friends with him.

He raised his sundae glass. "To the mystery girl," he said, grinning.

Rose echoed his toast. "And may we actually meet her one day."

"Ahh," Scorpius said knowingly, tapping his glass with his fingers. "Has Finch mentioned this girl before?"

"Maybe once or twice," Finch said, with studied casualness.

Rose laughed. "Or three, or four, or ten."

"Merlin, Finch, how long have you been after her?"

Finch moaned. "Can we make my love-life a no-go zone too?"

"Details. Later." Scorpius stage-whispered to Rose.

"I heard that."

"I know."

Leaning back with a sigh, Scorpius looked around at their now-empty glasses. Why did chocolate always have to disappear so quickly? His hadn't lasted much longer than the others', and they'd had a head start, for goodness' sake!

"Time to leave?" he asked, and they nodded. He wanted to stay longer - ice-cream definitely needed time to settle in one's stomach - but Friday afternoons were a busy time at Florean's and he didn't think the management would take kindly to them sitting around with nothing but three empty sundaes. But the autumn sun was still shining and the wind wasn't too cold -

"Anyone up for a walk?" Rose suggested. "It's still light out."

"You read my mind," Scorpius agreed. "Anything to delay getting back into the books."

"You've really been getting into that lately," Finch said, standing up. "What happened to good old slacker Scorp?"

Scorpius looked guiltily at Rose. He was supposed to look smart and ambitious and hard-working in front of her - not admit he spent half his working hours playing with irrelevant spells! Dammit, Finch.

"I've always been very hard-working, thank you," he said, as the three of them left the cafe. "It's just that..."

"...Your hard work goes into projects that have absolutely nothing to do with the Ministry?"

"Boys! We've had this conversation already!" Finch and Scorpius gave her identical looks, and she laughed. "Stop that. I half expect a "but Mum..." out of one of you. No, the no-work rule still applies."

"Even though technically we've left the chocolate zone?"

"If you don't shut up about projects and the Ministry I'll start going on about goblin riots and the latest Gringotts trial. Have either of you been following it, by any chance?"

Not the trial, perhaps - just one of the major witnesses...

Scorpius didn't answer, not trusting his response. Unlike Knightley, Rose hadn't mentioned Edgar to him once. Which meant he had to pretend he didn't know what she was talking about. At least until she saw fit to tell Scorpius about him - which, if all went to plan, would be sooner rather than later.

He grinned, and looked around. Diagon Alley suddenly seemed to sparkle, as the autumn light slowly disappeared over the horizon. Shops were shutting up, but more were opening for the night, with lamps flickering on in nearly every window they passed. The lane was as crowded as ever, but it was Friday night - no more work, no more deadlines, no more bosses and memos and reports. Just twilight, and good company, and the quiet sound of jazz being played somewhere not too far away...

Rose wasn't with Finch. He was almost certain of that. And even if she did want to be - well. Finch seemed to have moved on. As Finch was wont to do.

He'd never appreciated that habit more than he did in that moment.

"You're quiet, Scorp," Rose said suddenly, and he started.

"What?"

"We've been walking for half an hour, mate," Finch laughed. "Didn't you notice? We've ended up in Knockturn Alley. Look, there's Borkin and Burkes. Wonderful place. Lots of history."

Wait, really? He looked at where Finch was pointing - then punched his arm. "Bastard. That's Madam Malkins'. We've walked about twenty feet."

Rose shook her head. "Honestly. And you thought the eagle was bad."

Scorpius was getting rather sick of the Atrium fountain.

It had never bothered him before - but then again, he'd never really looked at it. Not like he was doing now. No, looking wasn't the right word - staring mindlessly for hours on end was probably more like it.

Okay, hours was a bit of an exaggeration. But if you added up all the time he'd spend here in the last few weeks - the time Edgar had spent, anyway - it came out to a pretty hefty figure.

Edgar was back again today, but this time he wasn't just aimlessly hanging around. This time he was going to make his move.

And it was terrifying him.

Knightley had been low risk. Low investment. A spur-of-the-moment idea. Completely the opposite of Edgar.

But Edgar? Edgar was basically Scorpius himself. Which meant he had to do this properly. This was no longer a matter of heading down to the Muggle subway for another go. If he failed - no, this was the moment of truth, if today failed - that was it. No more Polyjuice. No more disguises. No way of ever gaining the confidence to ask her out as himself.

He could feel his stomach churning as the single clock ticked closer to five. He was making a habit of this - he couldn't remember the last time he'd actually been in the Time Chamber for close of day. He'd been coming in earlier to make up for it, of course, but it wasn't the same.

Sitting here was lonely, in a way that even the almost-empty trainee corner was not. It was fanciful, but at least there he belonged. Sitting here alone, waiting for Rose instead of working, was a reminder of just how much he was risking to be here.

This had to work.

Five to five. A few people crossed the Atrium floor, but none so much as glanced in his direction. Edgar Spore had practically become part of the furniture, he thought wryly.

The minutes ticked on. Five, then five past, with a rush of people that left Scorpius unable to see the clock for a while.

Quarter past.

At half past he decided he could risk a trip to the bathroom. Not because he was worried about the Potion. He'd known perfectly well this was going to last longer than an hour - he just wasn't sure about his bladder.

He tried to stand up - and realised with a grunt of annoyance that he had pins and needles in his left foot. Dammit, nature. How could such an innocent-seeming phenomenon make it virtually impossible to walk?

Or maybe it was just Spore. For a body that looked so fit, it sure wasn't taking kindly to the cooler weather these days. As he walked, his right shin cramped, and he winced. Everything felt stiff.

Which possibly had something to do with sitting in the same spot for nearly forty-five minutes. That didn't stop him from taking the opportunity to do a bit of experimental stretching in front of the bathroom mirror.

(Stretching. Not flexing. Stretching.)

And then he walked out again, and he was back in the same old Atrium. Merlin, he wasn't just sick of the fountain, he was sick of the whole damn place. It was meant to be awe-inspiring - for the ten seconds you were supposed to spend there. He somehow didn't think the designers had meant for anyone to sit here for more than an hour...

He didn't feel like sitting down again, so he wandered around for a bit. Pretty much everyone had gone home, so there was point trying to look inconspicuous. He even walked up to the fountain for a closer look, which was almost interesting, much to his own disgust -

And suddenly - finally! - he saw her. An elevator rattled open, the sound harsh compared to the previous utter silence. Her hair was up, in the ponytail she wore to work - the one that was neat at the start of the day, but after ten hours of work looked a little worse for wear.

Personally, he preferred it this way.

She looked - not tired, but like all she wanted to do was curl up in front of the fireplace with a good book and a Chocolate Frog or two. He hesitated, not sure whether he should approach her.

Dammit, Scorpius, you've been waiting for more than an hour. You are not letting her get away.

She hadn't noticed him - unsurprising, considering he was lurking behind the fountain. She looked to be headed for the fireplaces - and she was getting close to them - why wasn't he moving? Why wasn't he running after her?

"Rose!"

The shout destroyed the tentative silence that had fallen since the elevator. Scorpius jumped. Oh - wait - that had been him...

Rose turned around, looking for the source of the shout. "Hello?"

Move it, Scorp, he told himself firmly. No freezing up now.

Slowly he edged around the side of the fountain.

"I don't bite," Rose said drily, her voice echoing in the almost empty chamber.

He laughed, breaking the tension. In himself, anyway. He walked quickly over to the fireplaces.

"How do you know my name, anyway?" she asked curiously. "I don't think we've ever been properly introduced..."

"What's stopping us from introducing ourselves right now?"

She laughed. "I'm Rose."

"Rose Weasley," he said immediately - then flushed bright red. "I'm sorry. I bet I sound like a stalker now."

Shrugging, she gave him a smile - and some Floo powder. "No need to apologise. I'm used to people knowing who I am. But I don't believe I've heard about you before...?"

That might have something to do with him being a probably homeless Muggle. "Edgar Spore," he told her, offering his hand out. "Unemployed. As you found out the other day."

"Hey, everyone's got to be unemployed some time, right? And besides," she said, a teasing glint in her eye, "the amount of time you spend here must mean you're bound to get a job at some point..."

"I've wanted to talk to you ever since I tripped you up on the road," he admitted, suddenly wanting to get everything off his chest. "I'm - I'm not very smooth, I'll admit that. I - it's just that I've been seeing you around so much, and then there are all those chance encounters we keep having, and - well."

"Well?"

"I wouldn't mind getting to know you better," he said in a rush.

He felt like a third-year. Especially when she didn't respond.

"I mean - not - just - you seem like an interesting person, that's all, and I'm - really making a hash of this, aren't I?"

And finally Rose took pity on him. "Look," she said with a smile. "I was going to head to Flourish and Blotts and grab a nice good book to curl up in front of the fire with. Why don't you join me there - and you can get to know me better by my book selections?"

"I take it that's what the Floo powder's for..."

She rolled her eyes. "This really is difficult for you, isn't it?"

"Now you're just making fun of me."

"Isn't that half the fun of meeting new people?"

"Oh, I don't know," he said drily. "Most people I know obey these things called 'social norms' and 'politeness'."

She looked over at him, her eyes raking over his body. He couldn't tell what she was thinking - but it couldn't be good, considering he was wearing the shabby coat again, and a pair of pants that had more patches than a scout blanket. Someone who spent her whole day working with the biggest lawyers and advisors in Britain surely couldn't be impressed by what he looked like. "You don't look like the sort of bloke who follows social norms and customs," she said softly.

"It's the suit, isn't it?"

"There's a suit under all those patches?" she exclaimed, laughing. "I'm sorry. I really am making fun of you now."

He shrugged. "I'm used to it. Now what were you saying about Flourish and Blotts?"

She winked, and threw her Floo powder into the fire. "That you are very welcome to join me there - if you're quick enough -" and she jumped into the bright green flames, her red ponytail the last to disappear.

Well. He certainly wasn't going to back down from that challenge.

Stepping out of the fire on the other side, he saw her leaning against the door, tapping her watch. "I was barely ten seconds behind you and you know it," he yelled across to her, and she laughed as he joined her.

"So. Edgar Spore, hmm?"

"What about him?"

"He speaks of himself in the third person, apparently."

Scorpius flushed. That had been a slip, but not a fatal one. Plenty of (odd) people did that all the time. "Shut up."

Flourish and Blotts was only a few stores down, and it didn't take them long to reach it. "Bit cold out," Rose commented. "Winter's coming."

"Winter's months away. Toughen up."

"Hey! I'm not protected by three layers of patches!"

They stepped into the shop, which Scorpius had to admit was at a much more comfortable temperature than the crisp air outside. He wouldn't call it cold, not yet, but it was definitely on the way.

"You like winter?" he asked. Hey, conversation was conversation.

"I like wearing winter coats," she said thoughtfully. "You don't have to decide what to wear every day."

He laughed. "Most people do wear clothes under their coats..."

"Shut up, you perv, of course I wear clothes. But no-one can see them, so they can't have an opinion."

"Do they usually?"

She rolled her eyes. "In magical law? Are you serious? They're the biggest bunch of snobs around. If you're wearing anything less than Wizard Designer you're doomed to sweeping out the broom cupboard. It's ridiculous."

He looked over at her. Her clothes looked perfectly fine to him - a grey skirt, a white blouse, stockings, what else did she need?

"Don't use me as a guide," she told him, noticing his stare. "You'd think this would be fine, wouldn't you? But even my boss, who dresses like a Malfoy house-elf -" Scorpius jumped - "says I need to start dressing smarter if I want to get anywhere in law."

"I'm sure the colour of your scarf is an excellent measure of your legal capabilities."

She shrugged. "Eh, clothes are clothes. They pay me enough that I can buy whatever'll make them happy. As long as I don't have to wear this crap on the weekend."

"Not a fan of stockings?"

"In this weather? I love them!" She turned to face the bookshelves, and led him into the first aisle. "But I digress. I believe we were meant to be sharing our literary interests..."

He followed her into the aisle. He didn't know this section of the shop very well - when he came here along, he usually went straight to the back, where the Mysteries books were kept. If he was feeling adventurous, he'd even branch out and read one on Prophecies instead of Time...

This aisle seemed to be full of older books. Mysteries books were kept constantly updated - ancient theories were all very well and good, but anyone interested in the Ministry's latest findings weren't going to read something from the eighteenth century, were they?

Not that he had anything against older books, of course. He pulled one off the shelf at random. It was thick and heavy, and the leather binding was almost crumbling, but something about the book appealed to him. The olde styles of reading the ... read the cover, the final words obscured by centuries of dust.

"Has anyone touched these books in the last hundred years?" he whispered.

She looked at the book he was holding. "The olde styles - why are you looking at a book about palm reading?"

"What?" He grabbed the book back from her. "Palm reading? This aisle is full of divination crap, isn't it? Please tell me that doesn't fall under your literary interests..."

She looked offended for a minute. "And if it did?"

Of course it didn't. Rose had spent the last four years at Hogwarts laughing at anyone who took the subject seriously. Unless she'd only been doing that as a cover-up - this could be interesting, he realised. Spore was a stranger to her - maybe she'd admit things she wouldn't normally admit to someone she knew well...

"Of course it doesn't, it's palm reading. Honestly. Who would want to make a living out of checking out people's wrinkles?"

They laughed. "Really, though," Scorpius said. "What is this section?"

"This aisle? Oh, it's just old books. Mostly on philosophy, divination, magical theory, that sort of stuff."

"Including law books?" he asked skeptically. "Though your lawyers are dusty enough. Might as well have the books to match."

"I'm a lawyer, thank you very much."

Well, sort of. But he didn't comment.

"But I'm not here to look at law books," she continued. "I get enough of that at work, don't you think? It's just reading all the damn time. And you can't just sit and enjoy the book - you're constantly analysing and judging and thinking - Merlin, so much thinking! Sometimes you just want to - stand in a bookshelf and breathe in the air, you know?"

He took a breath. She was right. There was something about that old-book smell - dusty, murky, soft, just old - that instantly calmed him down.

And there was something about the jasmine perfume she was wearing that instantly revved him back up again.

He took a step back, pretending to browse the shelf in front of him. She was just talking to him, for Pete's sake, she wasn't inviting him to jump her bones - and the more time he spent that close to her, the more tempting that impulse became. Time and a place, mate, he told himself. Time and a place.

"Why do you do it, then, if you think it's so stressful?"

He was genuinely interested in her answer, he realised. Sure, Rose complained about work - everyone did - but with Rose it was always just the same things anyone could say. Yeah, my boss is being a bit of an arse. Work's alright, got a big report due. That sort of thing. Never anything personal. Even what she'd just said was pushing the boundaries of what she'd ever told Scorpius...

She shrugged. "It's not stressful. Stressful is the wrong word. It's just..." She paused, fingering one of the pages in her book. "It's quite difficult sometimes. From an emotional point of view. You've got a case, sometimes a case that could be cited for years to come in rights reforms - I'm talking across Europe here - and you sit there reading case after case well into the night and you can't find the crucial bit of information that'll make it work? It's crap."

Scorpius pretended to be reading a book. Sort of. Well, pretended to be pretending to be utterly engrossed in a book, to hide his - Edgar's - embarrassment. "So you must be pretty high up, then. I mean, if you're working on cases that'll impact the rest of Europe..."

"I want to be," she said baldly. "I'm not, really, but some of the cases I work on could impact all of Britain. And those are the cases that are used in the Europe-wide reforms, aren't they?" She shrugged. "Ultimately I know I'm going to end up there. It's just a matter of time. It's what I've wanted all my life - or ever since I discovered the Hogwarts house-elves spend half their day making chocolate muffins and aren't even allowed to eat them..."

"I'd sneak one anyway - or two, or five," he said, laughing, then paused. "You sound awfully confident you'll get where you want to go."

Shrugging, she replaced her book on the shelves. "I'm confident about my work."

"And other things?"

"Such as?"

He took his chance. "Your personal life."

She looked directly at him. "At the moment? Terrifies me."

Terrified her? He'd never known Rose Weasley to be terrified in her life. "Surely it can't be that bad?"

She smiled wryly. "It's not, really. I'm overreacting. It's just - well. I care about work. But I need the people around me even more. And I'm absolutely terrified of changing the dynamics of that. And I'm - it's hard to explain, but let's just say I'm in a position right now where I could change the dynamics fairly dramatically."

She could be talking about starting a relationship with Finch.

He caught his breath. Or him.

"It's weird, talking like this to a stranger." She took a breath, and frowned. "I feel like I've told you more in the last two minutes than I've ever told - anyone."

"I don't mind."

She laughed. "I feel like a bit of an idiot now."

"Don't you have anyone to confide in?" Like me, he added silently. "Surely your friends care about this sort of stuff? They wouldn't think you're an idiot."

She looked away. "They care about me," she said softly. "A lot. But I don't - I just don't like to take risks."

"In case they find out you've failed?"

She gave him a sharp look. "I don't want to ruin things with...them. I just - I'm not -" She broke off, chewing her fingernails, and looked away again. "I know what to do at work. It's crap and it's hard work but I know how to do it and I know why I'm doing it. I'm confident there, you know? But with love -"

She didn't speak for a moment. "Don't stop."

"I don't know where I stand with love," she admitted. "I take risks all the time at work. Because I know they'll pay off. But I have no idea - no, I do know, but I'm absolutely terrified of the consequences of taking risks in my personal life. And how am I supposed to prove I can do it in front of them if I can't even do it by myself, when no-one I know is around?"

Scorpius swallowed, hardly daring to hope. "Maybe you should start taking risks, then. To prove it to yourself. Before you prove it to them."

She spun to face him. "Maybe I should start right now."

He stared at her, and she stared right back. He could almost touch the tension in the air between them - he wouldn't be surprised if gold sparks started flying through the air -

And all that tension was inside him, too, and he almost couldn't stand it. He broke off the stare, and looked down at his shaking fingers. He couldn't stop moving them - he felt like if he touched something - anything - Rose - he'd collapse, discharge, explode...

She took a step forward. He reached out his hand, pulling her towards him, and she wound her arms around his neck -