a/n: I'll be shocked if any of you have stuck around, but here's the newest chapter. Again, this is light and not to be taken seriously. Have a lemonade while you read. Happy reading! Stick around for an extended author's note at the end.


I keep bleeding love

Leona Lewis


I cupped my hand and used my palm to give Albus' shin a few short taps. He responded by reaching down to where I was propped against the kitchen cupboards and handing me a few dry pasta noodles, which I crunched on while he boiled the water, and threw the noodles in. We were at my parents house for dinner, and after a long week, being back in my childhood home was the place I needed to be, though I didn't tell them that.

"Have you seen Scorpius this week?" Al asked, stirring the noodles and adding salt. He turned the temperature down on the stove and passed me a few more dry noodles to snack on.

"Yeah, once." I munched on the pasta noodles before saying, "besides the times he was over."

Albus ran his hand through his hair. "Don't you find it was hard? To be near him and not know if he knows?" He shook his head. "It was weird."

"I know. It was weird for me, too. Trust me." I fiddled with the last noodle, twirling it around it my hand before biting into it. Al looked down at me sympathetically. "Sorry, Rosie. I'm sure it's harder for you than it is for me."

I shook my head, offering no reply. Scorpius was over the usual amount, joining Al and I for breakfast and dinner most days. There was no way around it – I couldn't avoid him. But most of me didn't want to, anyways. I knew deep down that his life was about to dramatically change, knowing Scorpius and his family, he'd marry Lucy, as it was the right thing to do. I held onto these moments where he wasn't quite gone, and I still could delude myself into thinking nothing in the last week had happened at all.

"Do you think we should ask Lucy? If she's told him, I mean?" Albus asked. He moved the pot of pasta off the stove and grabbed the strainer. I watched him move to the sink and strain our dinner before replying.

"Probably not. It's not any of our business, is it? The news will become pretty obvious soon enough, anyways." I stood up from my place on the floor, and took the strained pot of noodles from his hand and mixed in the red sauce.

"Smells wonderful in here, you two," said Mum, walking into the kitchen with a red wine in her hand. She came over and kissed our cheeks before taking cutlery out of drawers and placing it on the table. "What did I do to deserve having my dinner cooked for me this evening?"

"You defeated Voldemort," Albus volleyed.

Mum grinned. "I guess that does deserve a pasta dinner. Even if the sauce is from a can."

"Hey," I warned, pointing the wooden spoon at her, "we heated it up. Don't try and pretend like we aren't master chefs."

"Our next venture is world domination," nodded Al, "one jar of pasta sauce at a time."

"Be careful with that plan, son," Uncle Harry said, stepping through the front door. He shed his jacket and hung it up, moving his way into the kitchen to greet the three of us, "I had to get rid of the last one who tried, and let me tell you, it was easier than taking candy from a baby." He grabbed the bottle of red and began to pour himself a glass. Mum took a dishtowel and wacked his arm with it.

"What was that for!" Uncle Harry exclaimed, "you nutter!"

"Finish setting the table first. Then wine," said Mum sweetly.

"You've got a wine glass in your hand already, and you didn't even finish setting the table," Uncle Harry grumbled. He threw us a quick wink before getting the glasses from the top shelf.

"Where's Dad?" I asked, pouring myself a glass. I took a sip and handed it to Albus so I could fold napkins.

"Something smells delicious down here," Dad called, bounding down the steps. He entered the kitchen and began pouring wine into the glass Uncle Harry had left on the counter. "Hey," said Uncle Harry cheekily. He took the dishtowel from Mum's hands, rolled it and whipped it at Dad's shoulder. "No wine until the table's set."

"Ow,"Dad grumbled, rubbing his shoulder, "that bloody stung." He lunged for Uncle Harry's hair, and the two of them got into a tussle. Mum rolled her eyes and finished the table. Al handed the wine glass back to me, half empty when the door swung open.

"Oh my God does it smell like heaven in here," Aunt Ginny said. She removed her shoes, and padded into the kitchen. "Did you guys make this sauce yourself?" She lifted the lid and took a whiff, before reaching into the bag and grabbing a few dry noodles. Al looked at me with his eyebrow quirked, and I shoved his shoulder.

"You bet we did, Mum," he said, moving to kiss her hello. "Me and Rosie are going to be the next master chefs of the world."

"Rosie and I, dear, it's Rosie and I," Mum murmured absently.

"Yeah, right," said Lily, who had arrived with Aunt Ginny. She opened the cupboard that housed the garbage can. Peering inside, she called, "you didn't even rinse out the jar it came in, genius." She turned on her heel and faced us. "The King and Queen, making us dinner. To what do we owe this pleasure?"

"Aw, Lil, quit calling us that," Al whined, "you know it drives me nuts." Lily reached out to hug her brother. "When I only see you every two weeks, I can call you whatever I want. Would you believe that, Mum? I only see him every two weeks. And he's supposed to be my brother." She looked at me as she said this, and I felt coldness in her tone, though I knew she was trying to pass it off as a joke.

"Be grateful," I joked, lightening her comment, "it's not all sunshine and roses living with him."

"I know," Lily replied, "I lived with him for a long time." She moved to her mother to help dish out the plates, and I shared an eyebrow lift with Albus. He however, just rolled his eyes. "She's just being Lily," he whispered, "don't worry about it." I put it out of my mind, because I knew he was right. That was Lily – brazen, blunt and sharp.

"So, we're only missing James, then," said Uncle Harry as we settled down to eat. The sound of forks against plates silenced our chatter for a moment, but never for long. Not in our family.

"He said he had to work," said Mum, spearing a noodle.

"Yeah, right," Lily snorted, "it's a Friday night. That's the biggest load I've ever heard."

"Lily," Uncle Harry warned, "watch it."

"Ah, she's right, Dad," said Albus, "he's probably hooking up with some chick as we speak."

Uncle Harry groaned. "Please excuse my children. I think they were adopted from the zoo somewhere. We tried to return them, but we didn't sign the full money back guarantee forms. Why can't you guys be more like Rose?"

"I'm Rosie's best friend, Dad, that has to count for something," Albus shot him a cheeky grin before bumping my ribs with his elbow.

"I regret sitting here," I said. "I'm sitting next to Mum next time."

"No, you're not," Al laughed. "You always sit here."

"I'm fancying some change, I think," I shot back, grinning. It was helpful, though, to sit next to Albus because I usually handed him the rest of my food when I was full, and tonight was no exception. Except for the bread, of course. I lost count after three slices.

I needed this dinner more than I dared admit. The smell of the rich sauce mixed with the garlicky scent of the bread was warm and inviting, and the sounds of my family's voices eased my mind. The red wine made my head feel calm and sleepy, and I watched as pasta and brightly coloured salad was being passed back and forth. Laughs were being had, stories were being shared, and I found myself laughing for the first time in what felt like awhile.


We were sitting on the couch eating the last of bit of chocolate cake I had baked that evening. Albus stood and gathered my plate on top of his, going to deposit it in the sink. Padding back into the living room, he grabbed the blanket off the other couch and threw it over me. "You know I enjoy eating dessert food for dinner, but you've got to get out of the house sometime soon, Rosie. This isn't natural."

I groaned, burrowing deeper into the covers and the cushions. Albus threw himself back down on the couch. "I'm serious. It's not doing you any good to mope, and you know it."

"I'm not moping. I'm processing."

"Yeah, well, maybe it's time to process outside the walls of this apartment."

"I do! I go to work everyday."

"Yeah, and you stay there far too long for my liking. How many overtime hours have you clocked this week, anyways?"

I had been spending more time at the office than usual, far more than my normal work ethic would allow. My boss was loving all the extra hours I had clocked, but I was just there to provide a welcome distraction. Being a workaholic was not in my plans, but it felt like my default survival mode at times. "I know. You're right."

He grabbed the remote from the arm of the couch and started channel surfing. I listlessly picked up a piece of loose thread from the blanket and let it drop to the floor.

"You want me to ask Lucy?"

"You asked me that at Mum and Dad's on the weekend, Al. I told you, it's not a good idea."

"You'd just end up in a girl fight, wouldn't you?" Al snickered.

"I don't know," I grumbled. "I might." I blew a piece of hair of my face. "Probably not," I relented after a moment. "I mean, I'm angry with him and her and the situation, but I'm mostly angry with myself. It's not like they did anything wrong, did they? I just wasn't brave enough to tell the truth. I just can't help but think what might've happened if I was just a little bit braver before."

"Maybe," Al said, "but maybe the chips fall where they may, anyways."

"What, you mean like fate?" I asked, sitting up. "Do you really believe in that stuff?" I unfurled my legs from underneath me and stretched them out. I tapped out a rhythm with my feet onto his leg.

Al shrugged. "I dunno. It's a nice thing to believe in, anyways."

"That's true."

We were silent for moment, letting the TV distract us. "How'd your date go, by the way? I forgot to ask."

"Oh, it was rubbish, actually. Which is a surprise, because I thought she showed real promise." He shook his head. "The first question she asked if there was a chance that there would be paparazzi. And then proceeded to grill me what it was like to grow up with Harry Potter in the house."

I snorted. "You're joking."

"Nope," he said, " and that's the third one this year, Rosie. I told her it quite messed me up and I was actually just finishing my third stint in rehab. Course, then she leaned over and told me she could work with that."

At this, I laughed out loud. "There it is!" Al exclaimed. "So you didn't forget how to laugh!"

"You've got some nerve," I said after my giggles subsided somewhat. "She's probably going to tell everyone around her that the great Albus Potter confided his deep dark past to her."

Al shrugged. "Let her, I don't care. I'm sick of girls like that."

I rubbed his arm sympathetically. "I know you are. Don't worry, you'll find someone great. For now, you've got me."

He groaned. "Don't remind me."

A key turning in the lock interrupted our thoughts, and Scorpius made his way into flat, kicking off his shoes. "Do you guys have anything to eat?" He made his way into the kitchen and swung the fridge door open. "There should be some cake in the fridge," called Al.

"Sweet."

The fridge door slammed shut and Scorpius made his way into the living room, spearing the cake with his fork. "Whoa, mate, are you eating that cake or murdering it?"

"Pretending it's my father's head," grouched Scorpius. He sat down on the couch opposite us, continuing to attack the cake.

"What's the problem?" I asked sympathetically.

"You know how he is," sighed Scorpius, "I love him, but he just will not get off my back about finding a girl and landing a proper job in the wizarding world. My whole fascination with Muggle stuff is really starting to irk him, and I think he's losing his patience. Which, of course, I knew he would eventually, I just didn't think it would be this soon."

The three of us had always had a strange fixation with everything Muggle of course, but Scorpius was the one who took it to the next level. He had fiddled around with computers his whole life, right under his father's nose, and now he was working at a graphic art studio not far from his flat. He wanted to work in animation for films. His father was none to pleased to begin with, we knew, but he had not taken the news as badly as we all thought. In fact, I think he was almost proud of his son for stepping out from under the Malfoy name.

"Times have changed. He knows it, and I know it, but I think he's starting to realize that I'm serious about working in the Muggle world and it's freaking him out. He's probably nervous I'll fall in love with a Muggle, next."

"Is there anyone on your radar then? From work, I mean?" Al asked. I shot him a look, but he shrugged me off.

"Nah, there hasn't been anyone in a really long time, actually."

"Besides Lucy."

It was Scorpius' turn to throw me a look. "You told him?"

I held up my hands. "Did you expect me not to?"

Scorpius sighed. "No, I was kind of hoping you would, to be honest." He turned to Albus. "Sorry, mate. I know she's your cousin and everything." His cheeks tinged red, and I swallowed hard to hide my discomfort.

"Nah, don't worry about it." Albus cleared his throat. "So, have you, uh, talked to her since?"

Scorpius put his now empty plate on the floor, and shifted on the couch so that he was lying on his back. "No, I haven't. We agreed it was a one time thing, and besides, it wasn't like we were friends before. I do feel guilty, though. Do you think I should owl her?"

Albus and I exchanged glances. I knew what he was thinking. I scrunched my nose and mulled it over in my head quickly – Scorpius had had a long day, and probably wasn't in the mood to hear more shocking news. However Lucy was six weeks along, and we had kept our mouths shut for a week. He deserved to know. But it wasn't exactly our news to tell.

It felt weird keeping such a big secret from our friend, though.

"She's pregnant."

Scorpius' head snapped up at the sound of Albus' voice.

"Wh- what?" His grey eyes searched our faces imploringly, as though he was looking for a sign that it was a joke. "You've got to be kidding me."

He sat up and hunched over his knees, his head between his hands. He tangled his hands through his hair, while Albus and I gave him space to breathe before speaking again.

"I saw her," I said softly, "last week, in the bathroom. We weren't going to tell you," I added, with a pointed look at Albus.

Scorpius lifted his head from staring at the carpet to stare at us. "No, trust me, I'm really glad you did. Who else knows?"

"Just us, I think, unless she's told her parents. You gonna tell yours?"

Scorpius looked at him quizzically. "Tell my parents?"

"Uh – yeah. You going to tell your parents you got a girl knocked up?"

"Oh – right. Yes, I guess so. I have to talk to Lucy first, though." Scorpius stood to his feet shakily and dusted himself off. "Sorry, but do you mind if I stay here the night? I think I'm going to turn in."

I wacked Al's chest with the back of my hand. "What was that for? That was not our news to tell!"

"Yeah, but I couldn't keep it in any longer. I'm starting to get really pissed at Lucy for not saying anything, anyway. Besides, you wanted to tell him."

I sighed. "Sort of." I blew out slowly. "But now it just makes everything so real." I shifted to look at him properly. "He's going to be a dad, Al. He's going to have a whole different life. His father will probably make him marry her, for God's sake, and don't pretend like you don't know that to be true."

"I know." Al palmed the side of my head and brought me in for a hug. I accepted it gratefully – Albus wasn't big on physical affection. "Maybe it's time to move on. As much as I hate to say it." I felt his words rumble in his chest. They soaked right through my ear and infected my brain and my heart with a tightening grip.

"I know," I repeated. "It's time."


My eyes opened at approximately 1:53 am. I had had trouble falling asleep, and I groaned. I was not happy about being awake again. I rolled onto my side and closed my eyes once more, but after six minutes and thirty two seconds, I realized my attempts at drifting off again were fruitless. I swung my legs over the side of the bed, and slowly crept out of my bedroom into the dark kitchen.

"Oh my God, you scared me!" I whispered, clutching my hand to my chest. Scorpius was sitting at the table, a steaming mug in hand. His head jerked up at the sound of my whisper.

"Sorry, Rose," he replied sheepishly. "I didn't mean to scare you." He paused for a moment. "Couldn't sleep?"

I shook my head and grabbed a mug from the cabinet. I added more water to the kettle and waited for it to boil. "You either?"

"No." His head was bent over the table, his hand moving quickly and swiftly over it. I padded over to see what he was doing. One of mine and Al's old bill envelopes were being used as a drawing pad. Scorpius had drawn little doodles all over and around the edges. A tiny turtle, an umbrella, a house and a bird danced across the pages.

"You're good," I said, tapping the paper over his shoulder. "Sometimes I forget how talented you are."

He looked up at me and grinned. "Thanks."

I took my mug full of tea and sat next to him at the rickety table that the three of us had painted robin's egg blue when we first moved in. "I know that the news was a shock, Scor. And I'm so sorry. If there's anything we can do to help, just let us know."

Scorpius didn't say anything for awhile. His head was bent over, but he looked up as I took my first sip. He bit his lip. "Listen, Rose." He heaved a sigh. "There's lots I want to say to you right now," he muttered. He stood and placed his mug in the sink. "I know I'm not good with saying things. But I just – I want you to know." He stumbled over his words. " I'm going to sound like such a pansy. Consider this a 2 am confession." He laughed, a breath through his nose.

"I was just, when you guys gave me the news. I looked at you two, underneath that stupid red and pink hearts blanket, and I just, I love you guys." He grinned a lopsided grin. "I've got the best friends in the world. Just don't tell Al I said that."

I gave him a small smile. "We love you too, Scor. And seriously, we're here for you."

"Do me a favour, okay?"

"What's that?"

"Trust me."

I furrowed my brow. "What do you mean?"

"Just – trust me."

He rinsed out his cup in the sink, and stuck it back in the worn mint green cupboards. I finished the last of my tea, and made to stand.

"One more thing." He was leaning against the sink, his arms folded in his dark jumper. His eyes were exhausted, framed by purple bags. His hair was rumpled and his feet were bare. I met his eyes. "Sure," I replied.

"Come here." He paused. "Please."

I stood up and readily walked into his arms, leaning my head against his fleece-covered chest. It was a familiar hug, one I had received thousands of times, one that I didn't want to ever give up.

"Thanks, Rose."

"Anytime."


I was dunking celery sticks into a peanut butter jar when the front door erupted with knocks. I moved to answer it, celery and peanut butter still in hand.

"Lily," I said, opening the door, "what's up?"

"Can I come in?"

I opened the door wider to let her through. She shrugged off her coat and hung it on the rack. "Is Albus here?"

"He's in his room, why? Do you need to speak to him?"

"No, actually, it's you I want to talk to." I gestured to the kitchen table, and let Lily sit down. I followed her, setting the jar of peanut butter down and dunking another stick of celery inside. She fiddled with her hot pink painted fingernails.

"I like Max," she blurted. "I like him a lot. And you guys have been spending so much time together, and I just, if you like him, I get it. I just hope you like him enough. If he's worth it, I get it. But if he's not – please, Rose, please reconsider."

I sat, stunned, with a celery covered peanut butter stick halfway to my mouth.

"What would make you think that?" I spluttered.

"Scorpius and I talked for a minute the other day. And I saw you yesterday through the window at the Muggle café you love so much."

She was right – I had gone to lunch with him yesterday, but it was for him to thank me for everything I had helped him with. He planning on asking Lily out this Saturday, not that she knew. I tried to interrupt Lily. I didn't want to betray Max's secret, but I thought I could probably get away with hinting enough so that she would figure it out on her own, but she wouldn't let me get a word in.

"It's just, please, let me have this Rose."

"Lily –"

She cut me off again, her expression turning more serious than I'd seen it.

"I've been thinking about this for days and days. Frankly, I'm so frustrated with you, Rose."

Oh-kay.

"What?"

"You get everything! You get the cool apartment, you get the internship at the job you wanted, everyone loves you, and you get Albus. He's my brother, and yet he's always with you. The whole Siamese twin act gets so old, and now you've got Max, and I just can't handle it anymore!" Her outburst came as a shock, like cold water had doused me. I could feel fire burning in my veins. I knew Lily could be selfish, but I never expected this.

"Lily, our apartment is not cool. It's old. Nothing matches, the furniture comes apart, the cabinets are mint green, for God's sakes. Don't try to spin this one into something I get. I worked hard for the internship, and you know it. And Al and I have always been best friends."

"That's because you never let him out of your sight, Rose, God! I can't believe you don't see it."

Albus stepped out of his room just then, but I paid him no attention.

"You know, your princess temper tantrum makes me not want to tell you anything about Max right now."

Lily glared at me. "I don't want to hear it. You know, I was hoping you were going to hear me out first, but it seems it's always got to be your way, doesn't it?"

"Lily," Al cut off sharply, "that's enough. You're being a brat. Quit attacking Rose."

Her eyes flashed. "Whatever. Of course you stick up for her. I'll leave you guys to it. Thanks, Rose, for everything." She grabbed her coat off the hook and slammed the door behind her.

"What was that?" I asked, stunned. I looked to Al with round eyes. He face was arranged in a picture of disgusted shock. "I've not a clue," he replied, "but that was ugly. I've never seen her like that before." He shook his head. "What did she want, anyways?"

I relayed the story to him as I finished off the peanut butter celery.

"The most messed up part is, Max likes her just as much as she likes him, not that she'll know that now." My stomach knotted. I didn't like anyone upset with me, and Lily and I usually got on fairly well. Her emotions came straight from left field.

"It sounded like that outburst had been years in the making," Albus remarked, cutting celery for himself. "Don't worry about it. She'll come round." He dunked his celery in the peanut butter jar.

"I'm sure you're right," I sighed, "I still feel sick about it."

"She must really love him."

I nodded in agreement.

"Hey, I think I'm gonna pop round Mum's tonight, you want to come?"


"We're in here, you two," Mum called as we entered through the fireplace. Her voice sounded like it was coming from the study. I eased open the door. The whole room was surrounded top to bottom with books, books, and more books. It was Mum's personal sanctuary, and my favourite room in the house. It had squashy chairs and ladders to reach the books on the top shelves. Dad and Mum were sat on the one of the chairs, their heads bent over a newspaper.

The fireplace lit up green, and Uncle Harry stepped through. "You guys Owled?"

Mum's face turned into a grimace. "Yeah – Harry, you might want to take a look at this. It's a Skeeter article, mind you, but we thought you'd like to see it."

Albus and I stepped around to where Uncle Harry had taken the newspaper. My head snapped up in shock to meet Albus' quizzical gaze. We stared at one another in shock. It couldn't be true.

Could it?

LILY LUNA POTTER – PREGNANT BY LORCAN SCAMANDER?


a/n: Hope you had fun. Remember, please, this is light and not to be taken seriously. Review if you feel like it.

Extension:

So here's the thing. You could be saying "daanngg this author is crazy and knocking everybody up, what kind of story am I reading here?!" And that's cool. You don't have to read. But what I want in this piece of writing is to get more across than "Rose and Scorpius fall in love." There are alot more themes that are lightly being explored here. It's all up to you on how you take it. I realize that these pregnancies (pregnancy?) could be enough to turn you away, as they're slightly crazy. But they are part of the foundation on which I build the themes of the story, that like I said, I want to explore beyond romance between Rose and Scorpius. Anyways, thanks for reading! You may be surprised where this goes.. but then again, maybe you won't be. Thankyou for stopping by!