A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long. I tried starting it one way and always hit a wall. That's my clue that I need to try something else. Here it is! Hope it was worth the wait!

"Love is easy, it's relationships that are hard." - Me

Chapter Forty One

For All We Know

In all the years Rose had known her cousin Lily she'd never seen her quite like this. Lily Potter (soon to be Malfoy) was all things courageous, brave and almost stupidly in your face. She most certainly was not nervous. Not about anything. And never about Scorpius. The guy worshiped her. There was no way he'd've gone through all that crap with his family if he didn't live for her every heart beat. If Rose could see it there was no doubt that Lily did too. The giant rock on her fourth finger was testament to that. A rock that Rose had been silently jealous of since Scorpius slipped it on Lily's fingers.

Of course she wasn't jealous over Scorpius. He was nice enough and certainly good looking but he wasn't Stephen. No- Rose was jealous of Lily future. In about an hour Lily would be having the wedding of her dreams, she would go from Miss Lily Potter to Missus Lily Malfoy, she would go off with her husband and he would call her 'wife' and they would begin to build a life as a unit, as partners.

Rose sighed and ran her hand over her very round stomach, her eye catching on the large, glittering diamond bracelet Stephen had given her eight months earlier when she'd told him she was pregnant. For a moment she'd thought it was ring but no… just a bracelet. Admittedly it was a very pretty bracelet and her fellow mothers (Victoire, Ruby and Kira) had all ohh-ed over it, it just wasn't the diamond she wanted. While Rose knew that one of the perks of being pregnant was the right to go crazy, she refused to take her hopeless longing out on Stephen. So when they argued (which was rare these days, she kept things bottled up) Rose always bit her tongue before screaming at him about ruining her dreams of a perfect wedding and marriage.

Screaming at him about it wouldn't do any good, in fact it might scare him off and Rose needed him. It was bad enough her father couldn't look at Stephen without gripping his wand and muttering until sparks shot out the tip. Some days she was sure Stephen was one snide remark away from dropping her or that the only reason he was staying was because he was afraid her family would kill him if he left her.

Rose felt a small nudge against her fingers and smiled. Her little one always seemed to know when she needed reassurance. Even if Stephen left her she would always have this little bit of him. The door opened to the beautiful room they were getting ready in at the ultra plush wizarding hotel in downtown London (a negotiation with the Malfoys. Lucius demanded (if his grandson was marrying a Potter he would have his way on the wedding at least) that the young couple marry at Malfoy Manor, suffice to say that didn't happen) and Albus popped his head in, "Were ready when you guys are," he said.

Rose struggled to her feet until Albus came over to help. He took her arm and walked her out. They were quiet for a while. "Do you remember how close we were before Hogwarts?" he asked suddenly.

"Getting nostalgic, Al?" she laughed.

He stopped and turned to face her, "I'm serious, Rose you were my best friend and I got kind of lost in Scorpius and James. We promised to look out for each other and I feel like I failed. First with your dad being an arse about Stephen while you guys were in school and now…"

Rose squinted at her cousin. "You didn't get me pregnant, Albus."

He snorted. "I know, Rose and that's not what I meant. I feel like I should be kicking Stephen's ass for this-"

"I had just as much to do with this as he did."

"I know that too and again not really what I meant."

"Then be explicit, Albus, what do you mean?" Rose snapped.

Albus bit his lip and sighed. "We were little, Rose- maybe seven or eight- and James married us in front of all our stuffed animals. I remember because when he said, 'kiss the bride, Al,' you smacked him and then kissed my cheek. You told me after that there was nothing in the world you wanted more than to get married…"

Rose felt tears fill her eyes. "What's your point?"

"No one in this family will think less of you if you decide you want to do this on your own."

"Why would I-?"

"Because you deserve the chance to find a guy who will make all of your dreams come true." Rose covered her face with her hands. "If you want to you can stay with Calla and I, we have plenty of room for you and the baby. James and Kira offered as well-"

"You guys have been talking about this behind my back?"

"We're all worried, Rose. You've never been one to hide it when you want something. Everyone in the family knows you want a big fabulous wedding, the fact that you got a bracelet instead of a ring didn't go unnoticed."

"So they forced you to come pester me about it?"

"I volunteered."

"How gallant of you."

"Regardless, James and Kira offered to have you move in with them once they move into their new house. They've already got a baby, so they'd be able to help you with yours. Of course I can't promise they won't corrupt your child in the process. Hugo and Ruby said they would be thrilled to have you, and Lily said you could stay with her and Scorpius at Grimmauld if you preferred. The point is you have options, Rose. Hell you have a shit ton of gold! Why are you staying with a man who won't make you his wife when it's all you want?"

"Because it's not what's best for my baby," Rose whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks. "And while Stephen might not want me he does want our baby. Even if we end up breaking up sometimes in the future, I have to give us a shoot, for the sake of our baby."

Albus ran a hand through his hair. "Rose, think about you for a second. Do you want to spend the rest of your life following him around taking whatever scrap of affection he's willing to give you? Writing about Quidditch instead of your own writing- weren't you going to write the next great wizarding novel? All about our parents and their adventures? What happened to that dream?"

"I was a little girl when I thought that gem up!"

"You were eleven, Rose. And I know you wrote a few drafts- I saw them in your room over summer break when we were in school. It's like you're disappearing into his life instead of living in your own."

"Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans."

"That's an excuse, Rose. You might be afraid of being alone in this, but you're not. All any of us wants is for you to be happy. No one knows better than me that dreams change as you grow up and fall in love, and that life isn't just the things you do, it's the things that happen to you. But you control what you do with those things, Rose. It was my dream to be an Auror, am I going to be one for the rest of my life- like Dad- like I thought I would- no, no I'm not. Calla's father could drop dead tomorrow and my life would change instantly. But I made my dream come true. So when I look back on my life there won't be any regrets. Can you say the same? If you stay on this path, will you be able to say the same?"

"I'm ready!" Lily exclaimed bursting out of her room. Rose pushed past Albus and hurried down to the ballroom. She squeezed into her seat and looked around, trying to think about anything but her conversation with Al in the corridor. She was supposed to be sitting with Stephen but he was nowhere in sight. For a second she worried he'd left, but he rushed in and popped down next to her a moment before Scorpius walked down the aisle.

"Where were you?" she whispered. He glanced at her and Rose saw something in his eyes that she hadn't seen since they broke up. A soul deep anguish.

Stephen took a deep breath and tried to calm his racing heart. The ceremony was starting any minute now and as soon as Rose got away from her conniving evil cousin she would be looking for him. Maybe. Unless she agreed with him. But she couldn't! Then again she seemed to think he was only with her because of the baby. But how could she think that? Stephen made sure to tell her all the time how much he loved her. He'd bought a house for the three of them- of course now that he thought about it he probably should have told her about it. That thought occurred to him only after standing in paralyzed horror as around the corner Albus laid out a very good argument for why Rose should drop him. To hear that he was destroying one of her dreams by not marrying her was bad enough.

To hear that once upon a time she'd wanted to be a novelist and that dream was not being lived because of their relationship was just too much to bear. Here he was a world famous Quidditch player, living his dream and at the same time denying the woman he loved her dreams. It didn't help that one of her dreams was something only he could make come true. Stephen had known all along that Rose wanted to be married much more than she'd ever let on. It had gotten to the point that whenever they argued Stephen could see her holding something back- stopping short right before she admitted what was really bothering her. It didn't take him long to figure out what was bothering her.

When Lily had burst out of her room Stephen had hauled arse down to the men's room to hide –er- collect his thoughts. He couldn't face Rose knowing how much he was hurting her. The very worst part was that he didn't know how much he was hurting her. The very worst part was that he didn't kniw how to make it better. He knew he should marry her- that was a foregone conclusion. If he didn't he was absolutely positive Ron Weasley would kill him. Why he'd ever thought his misgivings about the institution mattered a wit in his current situation he didn't know. Honestly he loved Rose. He wanted nothing short of the world for her the very least he could do was marry her. At this point they would have to wait until the baby was born but that was okay, he needed to get a ring and beg Ron for her hand. There was no telling how long that would take. But first he had to get through this bloody wedding. As soon as the reception was over he could drag Rose up to their room and distract her with sex. Hopefully by that time he would have gotten himself somewhat pulled together. He was not good at hiding things from his Rosie.

Stephen heard the band strike up and rushed into the ballroom- barely beating Scorpius- and threw himself down next to Rose. His hand instinctively went to her ballooning stomach, stroking his son or daughter through the layers of skin and muscle taking comfort in the soft kick that greeting him. His little Quidditch player always seemed to know when he needed to be reassured. And then Rose spoke, "Where were you?" and Stephen made the mistake of looking at her.

Her eyes went wide and her hand clasped over his. He tried to school his features but knew he was failing as tears welled up in her eyes. Unsure of what to do he looked away as Lily glided down the aisle. Her face lit up with joy as she practically dragged her dad towards the altar. Stephen rolled his eyes and looked up at Scorpius.

He had an expression on his face that stopped Stephen dead. The look was one Stephen had never seen before. At the numerous Potter/Weasley weddings he had never looked at the groom while the bride walked down the aisle.

I mean, he thought, weddings aren't really about the groom right?

But if the look on Scorpius' face was anything to go by this event was for him and him alone. His eyes were devouring Lily, worshipping her, begging her to move faster down the aisle. It was clear in this moment that any doubt he might have had had long since been wiped clear. There was nothing Scorpius Malfoy wanted more than to marry Lily Potter.

In one way that made perfect sense. Scorpius Malfoy had been head over heels for Lily Potter for… well ever. And she'd been mad about him for just about as long. It was a love that had seen them through countless issues, trials and tribulations. In a lot of ways they'd gotten to this point… Lily so excited she might Imperous her father (Harry freakin' Potter) to make him move faster down the aisle, and Scorpius looked two seconds away from running down from the altar to collect his bride.

Now Stephen fancied himself a rather sharp fellow but as he watched Scorpius take Lily's hand from her father and lead her the rest of the way up to the altar he couldn't help thinking that after all the Potter/Weasley weddings he'd been to- starting with Teddy and Victoire- and he'd missed something vitally important. He'd missed the way the groom looked and acted during the ceremony. Scorpius was… well he was beyond any description Stephen could think of. There was no doubt that this event was as much for Scorpius as it was for Lily.

Something shifted for Stephen then.

All of the sudden he thought he wouldn't be marrying Rose because she wanted to be married. He was mentally kicking himself for not watching the Potter and Weasley grooms more closely in the past. Clearly if he had he would have seen this look before. This look of-of-of triumph, of joyous victory. For surely James and Albus and Hugo had all been wearing it when they married. Stephen watched Scorpius make his vows and while Lily gave him hers. His expression changed ever so slightly as he spoke his promises, becoming more serious, more profound. And when Lily made her promises to him his eyes shown with so much joy Stephen felt like he was eavesdropping on something personal. He looked around to see if anyone else had noticed. All he saw was most people watching with barely concealed boredom- or in the case of the senior most Malfoys- contempt. He caught eyes with Albus who glared at him before looking away. Stephen supposed he really couldn't blame Albus for that. He had (unknowingly) kept Rose from her dreams. But could Albus (or any of Rose's relatives) really think that he would deny her her dreams had he known?

Stephen would have been the first to buy her book had she ever told him or given some indication that she wanted to write one. She'd been writing for the Prophet for almost six years now. She had a very loyal following and not all of her readers were strictly Quidditch fans. Witches loved her sharp sense of humor and often blatant relationship advice for dating a Quidditch player. Wizards read because of her descriptive style, which allowed every reader to feel like they'd been at the game.

Stephen knew that if she applied that skill to her parents' story she'd produce something fantastic and a million times better than anything anyone else had written. All of that in addition to her first hand knowledge of what her parents actually went through, would make for a truly sensational book. The biggest problem, from Stephen's perspective, was how to encourage her to write that book without her thinking he was only doing it because he felt guilty. Which of course he did but he didn't want her to know that or think that he didn't think it was a genuinely good idea.

Stephen was fairly certain she already knew he'd overheard Albus- now he just needed to figure out how to encourage her to write her book and how to… propose because he did really want to. He wanted the joy written all over Scorpius' face. His epiphany was the sort people had when faced with the very real possibility of losing everything they loved. He really didn't know what he would do if Rose left him taking the baby with her.

And Stephen just knew that if Rose left him now he'd never get her back. If she left now she'd be gone for good.

Spurred by the need to prove that she was his- at least for now- Stephen turned to Rose, took her cheeks in his hands and kissed her, pouring all his love for her, all his need into one kiss. Everyone started clapping and Stephen pulled away. He could see it for a moment, he could picture his own wedding. In the backyard of the Burrow, kissing Rose while everyone looked on and clapped. Making it clear to every man who'd ever looked at her like he would like nothing more than to take her to bed that she was just about as taken as one woman could get. And all of the sudden he wanted that. He really wanted it to be clear she was his. And would never be anyone else's.

"I love you, Rosie," he said, wrapping his arm around her waist to keep her by his side. Stephen tucked his head in her shoulder and whispered, "my forever love."

Calla at the table of the first wizarding hotel she'd ever been in, at the first wizarding wedding she'd ever been to and watched as her glass of champagne refilled itself. Across the room Albus was standing with his brother and the groom. Even though they hadn't been very close since her husband had kept their relationship a secret, Scorpius had asked Albus to be his best man and being the wonderful man that he was Albus accepted graciously. She only wished that Scorpius had been Albus' best man at their wedding, it might have bridged the gap between the two men sooner. But her father had insisted that it was only right that brother of the groom be the best man.

Not that it made much of a difference. The two of them figured it out in the end and Albus had gotten to be the best man at Scorpius' wedding. So it all worked out.

Calla wiggled uncomfortably in her seat. It wasn't that the seats were uncomfortable, on the contrary, they were padded and swathed in a beautiful purple fabric. No it wasn't the seat that was making her uncomfortable. It was her husband. She'd spent the whole wedding ceremony sitting next to James watching her handsome husband standing up at the altar in an immaculately tailored suit and she couldn't help fantasizing while waiting for the ceremony to start.

In her naughty world she was Albus' ex-girlfriend watching him marry someone else. But she wasn't sad or disheartened, no she was going to win him back by seducing him. After the ceremony she would lure him into the men's room (he would come because he secretly still loved and wanted to be with her) and they would shag in one of the stalls. Him doing that blush worthy thing where he gets on his knees in front of her.

Her face turned bright red and James asked her what dirty things she was thinking about. Then Calla realized the ceremony was half over and she'd been too busy thinking about her husband finding his way under her skirt to witness her sister-in-law getting married. Kira stood by Lily side, acting as her matron of honor (a term she resented to no end ("I mean just because I'm married doesn't mean I'm a thousand years old!")) making goofy faces at her husband and that did a lot to cool her arousal, but now that Kira was in the corner with James and their son, Calla couldn't help moving back to the realm of her fantasy. Locked in the loo with her man while he did wildly inappropriate things to her.

Now eight months married, Calla and Albus' sexual encounters occurred one of two ways, one more than the other. On their wedding night Calla had done what Kira, Ruby and Victoire suggested and let Albus lead her through their first night as man and wife. And that was how most of their sexual encounters went- with him taking the lead and her- more or less- letting him do what he wanted.

Calla rubbed her forehead. It sounded so bad when she thought of it that way. She always enjoyed it and he knew what he was doing. She didn't. It really was better to let him be in charge. Besides it was only in the bedroom. She asserted herself other times and in other ways. It wasn't so bad that he got to be in charge in the bedroom.

The only other way they ended up having… marital congress… was when she went to bed first, fell asleep and he got snuggled up behind her, waking her up and the press of his body against hers, got her all hot a bothered. But he usually didn't initiate at those times. She would toss and turn and eventually he would put her out of her misery. But of course there were those times when he didn't do anything, just fell asleep and she had to wiggle until the ache dimmed and she fell asleep too.

"Hey wiggly!"

Calla jumped and looked over at Kira as she sat down next to her sister-in-law.

"What's up?" Kira asked. "James told me you were all red and checking out Al during the ceremony. So…"

"Good lord, Kira! I wasn't- it was- there's nothing- I wasn't thinking!"

"Ohhh! You were thinking naughty things about Albie!" Calla covered her red face. "Don't feel bad! We should talk about sex. I'm not related to your husband and you're not related to mine, neither of us can talk to Lily, she can talk to us but that's not the same. If it makes you feel better I'll start." Calla kept her head and wondered what kind of embarrassment Kira would subject her to before she left. "When James is in the mood he calls me Mrs. Potter and asks me about my knickers. Now you go."

"What?" Calla asked, mortified.

"How does Albus let you know he's in the mood?"

Calla bit her lip. "I dunno. He just kisses me and takes me to the bedroom. Or where ever."

Kira stared at her blank faced. "Wait, wait, wait. He'll just walk up to you, kiss you, grab you and take you where ever he feels like?" Calla nodded. "Well what do you do when you want to have some marital bliss?" Calla bit her lip to keep from answering. "Oh my Merlin! You don't, do you? You don't ask him for sex! How in the world-?"

"Look before Albus and I got married my father sat me down and explained my duty as a wife. He told me that it was my place as his wife to submit to him in all ways, but especially in the bedroom. That's how you become great with child," Calla said, parroting her father.

"Well, sweetie, isn't your father like a million years old? What does he know about modern marriage? You have every right to go to your husband for sex, also you can say 'no' to him when you don't want to have sex."

"I know that! I also know that what my father told me was, not only incredibly embarrassing it was rather Victorian."

"What?"

"Look it doesn't matter. I know that my father out of touch and to conduct myself in my marriage in accordance with what he said is ridiculous and asking for my marriage to fail. Which is why in all other aspects of our marriage I stand up for myself and make my needs and desires known."

"That's all well and good, Calla. What you're forgetting is that sex is a very important aspect of your marriage. When you don't deal with it properly it can slip over into other parts of your relationship. And knowing Al he's noticed that you never approach him for sex."

"Are you serious?" Calla asked.

"Completely. Now, before I came over here, were you thinking dirty thoughts about your husband?" Calla turned bright red. "Right! I want you to go over there, wiggle your way into his arms and let him know that you would like him to shag your brains out."

Calla stared blankly at her sister-in-law. "How in the world do I do that?"

"Well just tell him!"

"I don't talk to my husband about having sex!"

"You'll talk to me about it."

"That's different."

"Sure it is. How about this? Just whisper in his ear, I don't know, 'I want to go to bed.' If you rub all over him, he'll get what you're saying."

"And when he takes me to our room, so will everyone else here!" Calla said.

"Fine. Don't. But don't forget that men are vain and when they don't know their woman is attracted to them they act stupidly." The infliction left little doubt in Calla's mind what Kira meant.

She gasped and watched Kira walk away. She'd never thought that Albus would take her timidity as a sign she didn't fine him attractive. It was quite to opposite. She found him immensely attractive but was so unschooled in any affection between a man and a woman that she was uncomfortable acting in a manner which let him know how attractive she found him. The idea that he would go to another woman because she failed to inform him of just how much she wanted him was abhorrent. She was certain that she would want him every day for the rest of her life. Now she just had to let him know.

Calla took a deep breath, sucked down her champagne, waited for it to refill itself before emptying it again and looked towards her husband. He and Scorpius were looking over at her, the groom appeared amused and her husband rather concerned. She stood up to make her way over to him when Lily careened into her path. The bride looked to have tripped over her cumbersome (but beautiful) dress and fell into Calla's arms with a laugh that suggested Calla wasn't the only wife imbibing on her fair share of champagne.

"Oh Calla!" Lily wailed. "I'm so bloody happy!"

"Oh dear," Calla muttered, helping Lily into the seat she had just vacated. "Have you eaten anything?"

"No a bite today! I've got some very fancy knickers under this dress and I'm not going to be puffy on my wedding night." She fell into a fit of giggles. Calla looked hopefully over her sister-in-law's shoulder at the groom, but he'd been distracted by his mother and had yet to realize his bride was three sheets to the wind.

"Perhaps you should have something, to calm your stomach," Calla suggested, pushing a plate of cake towards Lily.

"No way! Besides who needs to calm anything! Scorpius and have done sex to each other before-"

"No quite the wording I would use but then you are drunk-"

"Who's drunk? Anyway, it's not like you and Al."

"What do you mean?"

"You sitting over here- wiggling," Lily snorted and waggled her eyebrows. "I overheard Albus telling Scorpius weeks ago that they only way he knows you're in the mood is when you can't seem to sit still or stop staring at him."

"He said that?" Calla felt her stomach drop.

"Yeah, he also said that you would never come to him outright for it. Which is of course a very foreign concept in this family! I mean look at Kira- she throws herself at James all the time. Hell I do the same! And Rose wouldn't shut up about how no matter how much she pestered him Wood wouldn't give her his… well his wood-" Lily broke off snorting and giggling. "We're a family of very forthright sexual women. But here you are so demure and modest that you can't even outright ask Al for sex. I think it's cute."

Calla's shoulders fell. If Lily knew then so did everyone else. It was a wonder she'd been invited to this wedding at all considering how long her marriage was likely to last. No doubt Albus was looking back on his past conquests, strong sexual women, who had no qualms about asking him for his favors. She was prude, an icy frigid shrew who he would-

"But then you're not like me and Rose and Kira. You're you. A pretty little flower. A calla lily. You know I always thought calla lilies looked kind of like a va-"

"If you're done torturing my wife," Calla looked up, her heart dropping to her stomach at her husband's voice, "you're groom has something for you and do be gracious and accept it, Lily."

Lily struggled out of her seat, "That won't be a problem. I love it when Scorpi gives me things. Especially naughty things," she winked at Calla before fumbling off.

Albus wrapped his arms around Calla and turned her towards him. "What she doesn't know is that his gift is a plate laden with food," he laughed.

Calla gave him a weak smile. He leaned in and gave her a kiss which she barely returned. She felt her husband pull away, but she didn't see it too busy staring at her shoes. Albus took her chin in his hand tried to force her eyes to his, when he finally caught them they were filled with frustrated tears. He tugged her into his arms, holding her against his chest which only made her tears come faster. How could she lose this? Over her own insecurities no less.

"Darling!" Albus exclaimed. "What's the matter? Are you hurt?"

"No! No!"

"Then what is it?" he all but begged.

"I-I- Can we not do this here?" Calla asked, suddenly all too aware of the crowd of people in the room.

Albus gripped his wand and they vanished, only to reappear in their hotel room. Calla pulled out of his arms and tried to move away, but he caught her arm, turning her toward him. "Tell me," he demanded.

The tears fell down her face and everything she'd been feeling since Kira sat down next to her broke free and she sobbed. "I'm a frigid shrew! Kira explained it all! I can't tell you how much I-I- Ohh! I can't even say it now and you'll find someone who can and leave me!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" he snapped.

"Lily told me you'd noticed that I- I never- I never approach you for-"

"Fuck! Scorpius told Lily that!"

"No she overheard!" Calla said, desperately hoping to avoid another falling out between the two. "She overheard and she told me."

"Well then, if she told you what I told Scorpius I don't understand what the problem is."

"It wasn't so much what Lily said, it was Kira- she said that you'd do something stupid if I didn't tell you- and it all became so clear. I'm such a prude and so frigid-"

"Stop calling yourself that! It's so far from the truth I feel like you're lying to me."

"But I am!"

"You're not," Albus cupped Calla's cheeks in his hands and looked down at her with so much love in his eyes, her heart broke with it. "Lily obviously didn't hear how much I like your modesty. I love the fact I'm the only man to drive you wild," he smirked.

"I can't see how you could love the fact that I can't even say it!"

"But you do say it." Albus said, patiently. "Your body says it. You wiggle around and turn bright red and can't stop looking at me. When you're feeling randy you're whole body screams it."

"But Kira said-"

Albus rolled his eyes. "Kira's a slag."

"Albus!"

"Not in the conventional sense. She's a slag for my brother. She can say it because she's saying to him or about him. Kira's in your face about everything. But you are not Kira. And thank Merlin for that. Because I don't love Kira, I love you. I love your wiggle and your blush and your stare. If you're not comfortable saying it then don't. I'm not as dense as my brother. I don't need to hear that you want me to know that you do."

Calla wrapped her arms around Albus' neck and thought once again about how luck she was to have him. To know that he loved her was one thing. You could love some things about someone and not others but Albus loved everything about her. Like her odd inability to outright tell him she wanted him with her words.

She wiggled in his arms and felt her cheeks flush with blood before pulling away just enough to look at him. He really did look dashing in his suit. And Albus took it from there.