Scorpius woke up with a mild ache in his shoulder. It was throbbing but he didn't know why. Maybe he had fallen asleep on the wrong side yesterday? Groaning and dragging himself out of bed, he made his way for the bathroom. Trying out his utilities for the first time, Scorpius was glad to see the hot water supply was working as he immersed himself into a relaxing bath. He shut his eyes for a moment as he let the steam swirl around him and let the heat cloud his thoughts. After a considerable time, he realised his fingers had gone prune-like, a good indication that it was time to leave the steam paradise. He grabbed his towel and climbed out of the tub, draining it quickly. He brushed his teeth, gargled and washed his face agin. Drying himself, he picked out an outfit for the day, a casual tee and shorts. Ruffling his hair and checking his appearance in the mirror, he nodded in satisfaction and head down the stairs.

Entering the kitchen, Scorpius smiled as he saw the light streaming in. The boats in dock looked adorable and Scorpius had the urge to pick them up like toy ships and rock them back and forth. He scanned the cupboard for anything to eat. The fridge had already been stocked when he arrived and he had brought some loaves of bread with him. Deciding to apply the use of his new toaster, Scorpius prepared some toast with butter and made his way to the dining area to have breakfast. He was about to eat when he remembered something. Hurrying to his doorstep, he opened the door and found the muggle newspaper waiting for him. Smiling, he picked it up. Tapping it with his wand and muttering a charm, the paper began to morph and the next thing he knew, he was staring at the daily prophet. Hiding charms were handy because then people didn't have to worry about delivering the daily prophet to muggles. Wizards could simply transfigure the paper if they needed to. Scorpius figured someone in the newspaper business in Falmouth was a wizard. Either way it was terribly clever of them, whoever's idea it was.

Paper in hand, he settled down at the table. The headlines were not of any particular interest. "Gringotts opens another outlet", "New Broom Model to hit the skies soon!", "Why save when you can spend it on...". There was only one section of the paper that Scorpius was pretty excited to take a look at. Flipping to the sports section, he stared down at the Quidditch page and his smile broadened. There it was stated boldly in gold, "New Season invites new talent!" and beside the headlines were all the pictures of the newly signed players. His picture was there, along with Rose's. And right below the images was a blurb, stating their name, position and the team they would be playing for. "Mr Scorpius Malfoy: beater; Falmouth Falcons" His mother would be proud for sure. Scorpius could imagine her already trying to frame it up somewhere.

Astoria Malfoy had been anticipating her son's Quidditch career to take off. She had already allocated a whole wall in the manor for future newspaper cutouts and certificates for her son. Draco hadn't stopped her which indicated that he shared her sentiments. At first Scorpius had been reluctant, but after awhile he thought to himself, "Why not?" He had talent for sure and he was in a good team, should there be any reason for him not to become a star? The exciting prospects sent a tingle down his spine. In fact these last two days, Scorpius had become less of the confident and brooding individual people knew him as but more like an enthusiastic schoolboy ready for anything the world threw at him.

Finishing off his breakfast, Scorpius hastily washed up and rearranged his chair. Placing the paper in the newspaper holder, he wondered what he should do next. His plans from the night before struck him. Heading outside, wand in hand, Scorpius readied himself for a bit more renovation. Outside the sun shone brightly and people, wizards who worked muggle day jobs or wizards on their way to work, were already out and about. The nodded politely as the passed Scorpius' property. Scorpius returned the nod and continued with his work. Staring at the house, he paused for a moment before flicking his wand. Immediately a jet of water was unleashed from the wand tip and began to spray the roof of the house. Scorpius could see the dirt washing away and running off into the drain. Finally satisfied that he had hit every bit of the roof, Scorpius turned his attention to the walls. The paint was chipping in some places but he liked the sandy colour it had. So he simply filled out the holes with his wand.

He glanced at the cobblestone steps leading to the house. They looked worn.

"I better replace them." Scorpius thought.

With a flick, the stones were gone and new ones had taken their place. Everything else seemed to be in order, the door and windows looked presentable. Scorpius was about to start on the gardening, when he heard someone behind him. Turning around, Scorpius saw it was an elderly lady, she must have been in her late 60s, with a cane hobbling towards him. Her hair was greying and her wrinkled face looked worn but she wore a pleasant smile and had a pink cardigan wrapped around her grey dress.

"Hello?" Scorpius studied her.

"Hello there. That's some neat tricks you got with your wand, fixing the place up. I wish I had known how to do that back in the day." she smiled at him.

Scorpius laughed.

"Well I could always teach you."

"Maybe you could" she paused. "How rude of me dear, I meant to introduce myself. I'm Muriel Thistlewech. I live next door with my husband Eddie."

"It's nice to meet you." Scorpius reached to take her hand.

Muriel reciprocated and they shook hands.

"I'm Scorpius Malfoy. Just moved as you can tell."

Muriel nodded before a thought seemed to strike her.

"Ah you're the Quidditch player in the news then! For the Falcons am I right? Eddie saw you get here round 7 yesterday. Swore it was you next door when we saw the papers. Either way I told him I better come and saw hello. And it turns out it is you!" she chuckled.

Scorpius raised his arms on top of his head.

"Guilty as charged!" he shook his head.

Muriel chuckled.

"But really the real reason I came over here apart from saying hello, was to invite you over. Once you get settled in dear you must come and visit. Eddie is the biggest fan of the Falcons. And you know he's getting on in years, lonely I suppose. He could use with some fresh company."

Scorpius smiled sadly. He always sympathized with people like that, who no longer were quite as energized and enthusiastic. It must feel terrible to be in that state, he had thought to himself. He just hoped that he would never end up like that.

"Of course I'll come over." he assured. "It's the least I can do for you being so welcoming. And while I'm there I can help fix up anything you need?" he offered.

Muriel's cheerful smile broadened.

"Yes that would be lovely dear but really I haven't been that hospitable, didn't even bring you anything for a housewarming gift! I promise I'll be round tomorrow for that!"

Scorpius shook his head.

"No you really don't have to. I meant welcoming in the sense that at least I know someone around here. By the way, which one are you at? Number 16 or 18?"

"We're on you're left." Muriel replied. "16."

"Ok great I'll try stopping by on tomorrow for tea or something?" he suggested.

Muriel nodded. "Yes that'll be fine. Bring your appetite and come, I'm quite the baker if I do say so myself!"

Scorpius laughed. In many ways, Muriel reminded him of Rose's grandmother, Molly Weasley. They were both so jolly, full of spunk and ready to go. They had something worth living for in the sense.

"Of course I will. I'm sure it'll be wonderful. Thank you again for the invitation and the welcome." he smiled.

Muriel waved him off.

"It's a bit of a tradition for me, trying to get to know everyone in the neighborhood. Sorry Eddie couldn't come with me though. He can't really walk about that much."

"Not to worry" he assured her.

There was a comfortable pause before Muriel continued.

"Well then I'll be off. I can see you're still working on a couple of things. I'll see you tomorrow then. Scorpius was it?"

"That's right." he nodded "It was a pleasure meeting you Muriel."

"Oh no, the pleasure was all mine." she smiled warmly and totted off towards her home.

Watching her go, Scorpius admitted her wouldn't have minded having her as a grandmother. She seemed fun. In her youth maybe she would have been more, like Rose, reckless and a go-getter. And since he was going to try and be as good a neighbor as he could, he would help her out any way he could. After all, they were elderly, someone had to look out for them. Maybe he could take Eddie, when he met him, to one of the Falcon sessions? Or get him tickets to a game? He might enjoy that... The ideas were swirling about in his head. The reason being because now that he had met Muriel, the incident seemed to have given him a sudden burst of confidence. Perhaps it was because now that he knew at least one person, he didn't feel quite so awkward anymore. It wasn't as if people were unfriendly here, for the most part, they smiled at him and they seemed like a relaxed magical community but of course it was hard to be reasonable, clear thinking and logical when you were on your own for the very first time, living without your parents.

So with a new spring in his step, Scorpius went about with his next task. Gardening. He hadn't done it in awhile. Rose had taught him, back at the burrow. It had been an interesting experience to say the least. The actual gardening wasn't so difficult. JUst planting seeds in the ground and providing them with enough moisture. Scorpius had asked Rose why not just use magic. She had replied:

"It wouldn't be as meaningful as compared to when you nurture something and help it grow. In this case, magic might now be the best way."

Yes it required more work but Scorpius understood the reasoning behind her point. The objective was to take care of something, like a cat or a dog or even something like an owl. So here he went. He hurried inside his storage area where he kept some of his tools like a shovel and a rake. He had also bought some seeds forehand from a muggle store. Learning how to use muggle money and interacting in a muggle store itself had been half the challenge really.

Returning outside, Scorpius followed the muggle instructions. Picking up the rake, he tried to remember how Rose had taught him. He always for some strange strange reason pushed the rake forward instead of backwards. Correcting himself, he began to move the rake backwards, gently sifting through the soil as he went, checking for any worms, or anything unpleasant that might potentially affect the growth of his plants. Spotting nothing, he picked up the seeds and just as Rose had taught him, began to place them in the soil with significant spacing between them. Once that was done, he took the shovel and began to heap soil on top of the seeds. It was tiring work and Scorpius was sweating. But it was occupational, he didn't feel bored doing it. Once the planting and shoveling was done on either sides of the house, the right and left, Scorpius pulled out his wand once more and sent gentle jets of water towards the freshly tilled soil, so the seeds would get some moisture. He also murmured a silent spell in his head, a growth enhancement spell.

Yes he knew very well that Rose had said it would be more meaningful if he didn't. But honestly, Scorpius could not trust him own capabilities of gardening. It would be a huge embarrassment on his part if nothing grew from his efforts. He had to show his parents something when they came, especially his father. Chuckling to himself, Scorpius finished watering the ground and began to head over to pick up his tools to head back inside. But just as he was about to head back up the stairs, he heard a clear but light voice chuckle behind him:

"Now that's something you don't see everyday. Scorpius Malfoy gardening."

Scorpius stopped dead in his tracks at the voice. That well known voice. For a moment he wondered if he had heard right. He tried to convince himself, as he still stood stationary that it wasn't who he thought it was, that maybe it was Muriel again back with her promised housewarming gift. Maybe the sun had gotten to him, he might need a cold drink or something to cool off. Was he having a temperature? He shut his eyes in confusion as his head spun. He didn't dare turn to see who it was lest he disappoint himself again. But then the voice spoke up again, this time less humorous and more concerned.

"Scorp, aren't you gonna say hi?"

Scorpius exhaled slowly as he heard the nickname. Now he had no doubt in his mind who it was. She was here. She had made it. She was at his house for Merlin's sake! How had she managed to get here so fast? The questions and thoughts were never ending but for now, they were the least of his concerns. Dropping his gardening tools and turning around, he faced her. There she was, standing at the gate, her arms were folded and her legs were crossed. She was leaning on the gate and her face was lined with concern that was quickly turning to relief and she was beginning to smile, the corners of her mouth curling upwards She was wearing a casual orange blouse and a beige pair of shorts and the auburn locks were uncommonly swept back into a light ponytail. Scorpius robotically found himself moving towards her, like he was floating on air and she in turn, uncrossed her arms and hurried towards him. Reaching her, Scorpius felt like nothing could be more perfect than this. He didn't know why he was getting so emotional, they had seen each other barely a month before but maybe it was something about being here, in a new environment, with her. It marked something, a new start not just for his career and their individual lives but a new and fresh start between the two of them, their relationship as well.

Cupping her face in his hands gently with light tears streaming down his face, Scorpius breathed.

"Rose"