A/n: I wanted to write this because I kept forgetting to do it every time I updated; did any of you notice the cover picture for this story and the significance it holds in relation to Scorose? In case you didn't, I shall tell you because it was a moment of sheer coincidence and epicness and I just have to tell you; raw lithium is a dirty silvery-grey, while polished lithium [as seen in the picture] is a rosy pink. Yes, silver for Scorpius and rosy pink for Rose. All hail epic coincidences!

Now on with the story!

Chapter 11

Change

"I need to talk to you and I need you to listen."

Albus looked up from the notes he was making to see Rose stride into his office with a determined expression on her face. He was about to tell her that he was busy, but she made herself comfortable on a stool, crossed her legs and arms and stared up at him resolutely. He regarded her for a moment and then seeing that she wasn't going to budge until she got what she wanted, he sighed and nodding, placed his clipboard down and sat on the stool in front of her.

"What brought this on?"

She pressed her lips into a line and stared at him like she was debating whether or not coming there had been a mistake. Finally, she made a weird groaning sound in her throat and slumped slightly. She turned to look at the clipboard and nodded towards it.

"What's that you've got there? Research findings?"

"Rose, if you're not going to get straight to the point and dawdle with small talk, do you mind if I get back to what I was doing? I'm not on break right now."

Rose waved her hand and said, "Right, of course, sorry. Er, the thing I wanted to talk about is…"

"Is?" Albus prompted when she made a face like she didn't know how to continue. She waved her hands around and stuttered about random things until Albus rolled his eyes and grabbed one of her wrists so she would be forced to look at him.

"Rosie, please tell me you're here to tell me you've finally realised that you're head over heels for Scorpius and the two of you are going to get married and have little blond and redheaded babies."

From the way she turned a furious shade of red, he knew he'd hit the nail on the head, but from the way she frowned and pouted at him, he knew she didn't appreciate the mental image his statement had caused. Meaning, there was something undeniably present that would even allow Rose to form a mental image in the first place, instead of immediately shooting him down with a smart comeback as she always had done.

Trying to quell his excitement, he leaned forward and said, "So tell me what happened. I promise I won't make any smart comments."

After considering him for a long moment, Rose said in a small, childishly scared voice, "Promise?"

Albus reached out and flicked her forehead before saying, "If you decided that this was important enough that you couldn't firecall before hand or wait till I was on break, then yes, I promise."

She chewed on the inside of her cheek while she took a moment to, seemingly, tie down her stray thoughts and finally sighed. She ducked her head and mumbled something Albus couldn't hear. He leaned forward but she kept muttering in an inaudible voice and he stifled a groan.

"Rosie, did you come here to talk to your hands or me?"

She looked up at him wide-eyed and then opened her mouth, making to talk, and then paused, like she didn't know where to start and just as Albus was beginning to get irritated and start to scold her, she abruptly blurted out,

"Scorpius kissed me."

Albus jerked his head to goggle at her, but from the stricken expression on her face and the pink tinge on her cheeks, he knew this wasn't some sort of practical joke. As though Rose even knew how to make a practical joke.

"He kissed you?" Albus clarified, and Rose nodded hurriedly, causing her fiery curls to bounce around. Albus clutched the side of his desk as he tried to abstain from saying everything he wanted to say, and instead, asked, "And you didn't kiss him back?"

Rose turned red again and stared at a spot on his white Healer robes before mumbling, "Of course I did."

Albus grinned from ear to ear and with a light laugh, reached forward and pinched both her cheeks.

"About damn time! You cannot even begin to fathom how long I have waited for this!"

Rose had a very conflicted expression on her face, but Albus could recognise the anxiety all too easily. He waved it off and pulled his stool closer to her. "And?" he said, excitement clear in his voice.

Rose frowned. "And what?"

"And what are you going to do about it?"

Before Rose could duck her head again, Albus grabbed her chin and stared into her chocolate brown eyes. She struggled, but finally relenting, said, "I'm not sure…yet."

Albus sat back and nodded encouragingly. "That's right. You take your time to think about it. But not too long, alright? That blundering idiot has been going round and round you in circles for years. I should go give him a good clap on the back for finally finding the balls to act on his feelings."

Rose made a face at his crass way of describing things and then stood up. Albus looked up at her curiously, coughing a little into his hand. "What, that's it? I thought you said you wanted me to listen. You haven't said more than a dozen words!"

"I… should probably get back to work," she said half-heartedly and Albus pursed his lips at her.

"Really, Rosie?"

She shrugged sheepishly and fiddled with her hair. "I just… I thought you should know… since you're his best mate and everything… and, I don't know, it just felt like you've always known something was going to happen between us and…" she sighed and made a frustrated sound at her sudden lack of words and Albus smiled at her as he stood up and picked up his clipboard.

"You know, Rosie, even for all your genius and ability to find solutions for problems nobody would have even thought of, you are completely oblivious to the goings on within you." He touched her cheek and said softly, "You've finally acknowledged that there has always been something that connected you to him, haven't you?"

When she nodded, he said in a teasing voice, "Like the red thread of fate or something—"

"Al!"

He laughed and ruffled her hair and his laugh turned into a muffled cough. He winced and she frowned in concern.

"Is something wrong? Are you ill?"

"I'm fine, it's just a little phlegm in my nodes. Don't worry yourself about it."

She didn't look too convinced but nodded and turned to go, anyway. When she began to walk away, he called to her as a sudden after thought crossed his mind. "Rosie?"

She looked over her shoulder at him and he said, "It's alright to be honest about how you feel. There's no longer your petty rivalry like in school or other things that have stopped you, hovering over your head, now."

She gave him a thoughtful look and he smiled. "You go show them who's boss, Rosie."

She tilted her head. "I am, though."

He chuckled and raised his clipboard in tribute. "That's my girl."

"If you would like me to come back later, then I can do so, ma'am."

She looked up, biting back a sigh, and regarded the man seated across from her with scrutiny. Lucas Zachery – the man Renée had chosen as her successor – had turned out to be as far away from Rose's expectations as the tip of a mountain to its base. She had expected to see a young, raggedly handsome man with bright blond, styled hair or piercing eyes or a rather to-die-for physique – or something of the like. But the man sitting on the other side of her desk, patiently waiting for her foul mood to subside so he could be interviewed, was nothing at all like what she had pictured him to be.

Not to be rude, but he was nothing remotely close to Renée's standard first choice. He came closer to probably her last resort, if anything. He was of average height, with average features and average characteristics. From his neatly combed brown hair, to his freckled face, to the one-size-too-large suit, to his painfully obviously new shoes and his rim-rod straight back, he was exuding an aura of absolute mortification and looked like he was closer to being sick than getting through the interview.

She would have felt sorry for him if her head wasn't competing with her on whether she would explode before it did.

"Forgive me, Mister Zachery. Today has been quite tedious, you see," she said as calmly as she could, offering him a strained smile – which he returned with a frightened one.

"I can always come back, ma'am," he offered again and she waved her hand as she threw her quill into her pot of ink, daring the splattering drops to get on her parchment.

"No no, I've already made you wait long enough," she replied tiredly, reaching up to undo her hair and leaning back with a sigh. She clasped her fingers in her lap and regarded him for a long moment, making him bow his head from discomfort. She was debating whether it would be a good idea to interview him when she was clearly ready to chomp his head off, when there were three sharp raps on the door.

She glanced up to see Scorpius standing half inside, his free hand holding something that undoubtedly would further the chances of her head exploding. She motioned for him to enter and he did, barely casting the cowering man opposite her a mild look of disinterest. He raised his hand to show her the small, brown, manila envelope he was holding and she raised her eyebrows.

"Did I somehow miss the notification of the usage of Muggle mail instead of our standard methods?"

Scorpius snorted lightly, a smirk tugging at his mouth as he tossed the envelope onto her desk and motioned towards it.

"It just arrived in my office five minutes ago. Open it."

She picked it up and eyed the already unsealed top. She raised her eyebrows at him and he shrugged.

"It looked suspicious; you can't blame me for being curious."

She hummed as she pulled out a slim piece of card from within. The card had the standard proportions of a typical invitation and as she flipped it over, she saw that slow golden swirls were appearing across the blank white card. She held it a little away, her curiosity getting the better of her, as she watched the intricate swirls come to a stop at the centre to form an empty circular space. She waited a second longer, and a golden rose began to bloom on the card.

She laughed lightly. There was only one person who would go to such lengths to simply invite her to something.

"She's done a marvelous job of it, if I say so myself," Scorpius commented lightly and Rose chuckled. She flipped the card back over to see that gold lettering had appeared on it, cordially inviting her to Renée Herington and Cole Wardford's engagement, to be held on the second Sunday of July – a week from then.

"You got one too?" she asked Scorpius as she turned the card over to watch the golden swirls reappear on the once again blank white card.

"Yeah, except mine was just a side note in the envelope that demanded that I bring a superb gift along."

She found herself laughing despite herself and relaxed into her chair, smiling as the rose reappeared.

"Well, since that's all, I suppose I shall leave you to whatever it was you were deciding to do," Scorpius said, glancing sideways at the man Rose had forgotten was still there, an amused smirk on his face. She nodded to him and he strode to the door, pausing to look over his shoulder and say, "Oh, and all the books, research materials and findings, and files from the main library and the archives, have been transferred to the department library successfully."

"Yes, I just signed the forms asking for permission for temporary expansion. Do we really have all that much?"

"It would appear so. Jordan was insistent on halving the living quarters to turn it into another storage area."

"Absolutely not," Rose replied instantly, frowning at Scorpius. "Nobody's halving anything and especially not without informing me first. Go ahead and expand the library for now, I'll decide which labs can be transformed into the archives later."

"Already on it," Scorpius said with a smart salute and disappeared behind the wooden partition. She hadn't gotten around to changing it back to glass yet and it somehow made her uncomfortable and claustrophobic to be unable to see the space outside her office through the glass.

Maybe I can make it a one way mirror, she thought idly, putting aside the card and its envelope carefully and picking up the résumé on the desk.

"So, Mister Zachery, Miss Herington has spoken of you with quite high praise," she began, finally acknowledging the man in front of her. He sat up straight in his seat and mumbled a nervous thank you.

"Tell me, Mister Zachery, what made you choose this department?" she asked, clasping her fingers atop the desk and regarding him through half lidded eyes.

"It was my first choice, actually, and I received a recommendation letter as well, so…"

"Yes," Rose said, eyeing said recommendation letter. "This contains some very notable achievements of yours, I see. You were made the junior secretary at the firm you were previously working for?"

"I was interning there, actually, and it was more luck and being in the right place at the right time, than anything."

She raised her eyebrows at him. Of all the scientists and other workers she had interviewed, she had been able to broadly classify them into two categories: the kind that liked to boast about their accomplishments more than anything, and the kind that only stated what they wanted to do and why they had seen the Ministry's R&E department as worth their time and effort. But she had never yet met someone who undermined their own abilities without a thought that it may lead to losing them the job.

What is it that you saw in him, Renée, she wondered, flipping through his file.

"And why do you think I should make you the Head of the Theoretical Division, Mister Zachery?"

"Oh no, I absolutely wouldn't think such a thing, ma'am. I only applied with the hopes that I would be allowed to use the superior facilities of the Ministry in order to further my research. Miss Herington didn't say anything about me replacing her, ma'am, nothing at all."

Rose looked up at him, not even bothering to hide her smile. I see now.

Renée had chosen him because he was the kind of person Rose preferred the most – someone who was humble, honest, hard-working, and obeyed the rules and authority without question. She hadn't simply chosen someone who would replace her, but rather someone who Rose could make the utmost use of and trust would do the job to the best of his abilities.

Even when you leave, you can't do so without leaving behind a strong reminder of your presence, she thought fondly, shuffling the sheets of parchment and sliding them across the desk.

Zachery looked up with some shock, paling as he assumed he had failed the interview. She only smiled at that and standing, stretched out her hand.

"Welcome to the Department of Research and Experimentation, Mister Zachery – no, Lucas. From this moment forth, you shall be the new Head of the Theoretical Division and I shall give you the rest of the day off so you may explore the department and introduce yourself to your fellow colleagues."

Lucas stared at her like she had grown another head and she pointedly glanced at her outstretched hand, her amused smile still in place. He blustered and clutched her hand with both of his, shaking it heartily.

"I shall do my best, ma'am!"

"That I am sure of," she replied as he hurriedly collected his things and made his way to the door. "Oh, and Lucas?" she called after him, making him look over his shoulder. She smiled wider as she came to stand beside her desk.

"Call me Rose."

"That was quite nice of you, to give him the day off."

She hummed as she swung her feet back and forth, popping another marshmallow in her mouth.

"So," Scorpius said, finally looking up from where he was rummaging in the file cabinet across from her. "What brings the great Miss Weasley to my humble abode?"

"I was actually thinking about what you said about halving the living quarters—"

"What Jordan said, you mean."

"—and I thought it was actually a half decent idea."

She raised her eyes to him, gauging his reaction. He straightened up and tugged on his ponytail, his eyes wide and swimming with obvious conflict. She slid down from her perch on his desk and made her way to him, leaning against the file cabinet and staring at the pink marshmallow in her hand. She looked up through her lashes, watching his thoughtful expression as he eyed her fingers twisting the marshmallow around.

"So, I guess your previous threat wasn't empty after all," he mused lightly, but she could hear the underlying heaviness to it. She sighed and leaned back.

"Scorpius, I told you that you'd have to move out sooner than later. I made this decision based on the practicality of it, not in order to carry out what apparently seemed like a threat."

He was nodding even before she finished, scratching his head and staring off into space. "Yeah, I know," he said dully and she felt a sudden urge to take him in her arms. She stomped it down with fierce determination, but couldn't stop the way her heart beat increased or the flush that crept up her neck.

"I think this is a good opportunity for you to go back home," she said softly, trying to make it sound like an innocent suggestion, just so he wouldn't take it the wrong way.

His eyes flashed and his jaw set and she winced slightly. So much for that.

He sighed long and deep and placed his hands on his hips, his head hanging. She stared at it and was surprised to see that the roots of his hair were still the familiar platinum that she always remembered, even if the rest of it was more a dirty ivory. He finally raised his head and fixed darkening eyes on her.

"I can't go home."

It was a statement. A fact. Nothing more, nothing less. Which was what made it all the more difficult to handle. She grimaced sadly and unconsciously stepped closer to him. She knew he didn't want to talk about it; the finality in his voice made that much painfully clear. And she knew that even if she were to stupidly pursue it, it would be to no avail. She opened her mouth, unsure of what exactly she was going to say, but he cut her the effort by beating her to it.

"I thought the quarters were important? Where will they sleep?"

"I… actually had a thought on converting the quarters into a proper library and turning the current library into a living space. It will be smaller and have bunks instead of beds, but I think it's more practical – considering nobody in the division actually cares much about comfort anyway as long as it conforms to logic and practical usage."

He nodded slowly as though throwing the idea around in his head. She knew for a fact that he would agree to it. The renovation would be long and tedious, but she knew he would get it done.

"Also," she said hurriedly, turning away from him to go and sit in his chair. "I was thinking that maybe we could halve this office so Lucas can move in here."

She swiveled the chair back and forth, giving him a moment to let the idea sink in. He finally nodded, ruffling his hair and huffing tiredly. "Yeah, he'd be more comfortable with me than you."

"That's what I thought," she replied, pinching her lips together. Over the years, she'd found that people considered her – the small, petite redhead – more intimidating than him – the broad, looming blond. And although she enjoyed the sense of power that gave her, it also accompanied with it a sense of loss and loneliness. Renée had been the only one who stood up to her as an equal and could match Rose's flying temper and extreme adamance with her own. Not to mention, Scorpius was the only other person who could match her pigheadedness with his own.

He nodded again, coming to stand at the desk. Placing his hands on it, he leaned his weight forward, staring at the glass top as though seeing it for the first time. She continued to swivel from side to side, simply to give the false impression of nonchalance so as to allow him the moment of self-preservation. He finally looked up, and she recognised the familiar glint in his dark eyes that were now returning to their usual silver.

"Uh-oh," she whispered, stilling her movement as a slow grin spread across his face.

"I know where I can stay."

A/n: Er, somehow I keep ending my chapters with cliffies... sorry?

Anyway, I just wanted to mention that in case you've forgotten, the reason Lucas's interview was so short was because Renée had already interviewed him before hand after hand picking him and a handful others who passed the written test. So yeah, just in case you were wondering why it was so abrupt and short.

Love~