A/N: Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who left their thoughts in reviews. I loved it as always. Enjoy this next chapter!

Chapter rated M for language and sexual content

Chapter 38: Malfoy Manor (Scorpius III)

"Rose."

I leaned into my beautiful girl and whispered in her ear.

"Rose, baby, wake up."

Rose stirred a bit, but she didn't wake. Her gorgeous, long red hair was covering her face, and her naked body was balled up beneath my blankets, leaving only her head and one freckled shoulder exposed. I was already fully dressed in jeans and a flannel shirt, and I knew Rose was going to be annoyed that I wasn't giving her enough time to get ready. I just smirked at the thought.

As much as I wanted to wake her up, I also loved watching her sleep. She was never more peaceful then when her eyes were closed, her mouth slightly open, and her features completely and utterly relaxed. In this peacefulness, she didn't have a care in the world. She wasn't worried about classes or Quidditch or Hadley or keeping our relationship a secret. It was just her—lost in a dream world that had no problems, no worries, nothing but peace.

I bent forward so that I was bracing myself with my right arm in front of her on the bed, while the rest of my body was close behind her but not touching. I used my free left hand to brush the hair back from her face, and my heart clenched when a small smile graced her lips and she leaned toward where my fingers were trailing her hair away.

"Scorpius," she said without opening her eyes. I smiled when I realized she was still asleep. It was just her entire consciousness responding to my touch, which made pleasure shoot through me.

I leaned in and kissed the tip of her nose. When I leaned back, her eyes fluttered opened and she focused on me in the dimness of the room. It was dark except for a candle burning on the table next to the bed, and the sun had not yet risen.

"Baby," Rose said hoarsely. "What time is it?"

"Early," I responded simply. "Come on, get up."

"Ugh, Scorpius, why?" Rose whined. I just chuckled and leaned in to peck her lips before scooting off the bed.

"I'm taking you somewhere."

She groaned. "Can't we go later?"

"No. Now come on before we miss it."

Moaning and groaning the entire time, Rose slowly slid out of bed and reached for her jeans that I had thrown haphazardly to the floor the night before. She put on her bra with her eyes half closed, and she started looking around for her shirt. I saw it dangling on one of the poles of my bed, and I reached for it and tossed it to her just as she turned in my direction. She pulled it over her head without a word, and then walked over to me and wrapped her arms around my waist as she buried her face in my chest with a yawn.

"You're lucky I like you, fritz," she said through her yawn. "Now tell me where we're going."

I laughed. "Don't worry about it. Put this on, it's going to be cold." I handed her a big, gray, cable-knit sweater that she often liked to wear around my quarters with nothing else underneath. The thought made me shiver with desire, but I pushed it away. If I let those thoughts creep into my head, I would never get her where I wanted her this morning.

I kissed her forehead and then pulled something out of my top drawer and draped it over her. Instantly, Rose disappeared, and she gasped.

"How did you get this?" she asked from underneath the invisibility cloak.

"I borrowed it from your cousin."

"He let you—how did you know?"

"I'm not an idiot. All the times I heard footsteps down my hallway late at night when he's been sneaking back from wherever he goes. I'm his Head of House. It's my job to know where my students are. And I knew James used it when we were here together. Please, I wasn't born yesterday."

"But—"

"I told him where I was taking you, and he was more than willing to help me sneak you off the grounds."

"Where—"

"No more questions," I said. "Come on."

I grabbed Rose's hand and pulled her through the dungeons. If anyone was looking, they would have noticed that I was missing a hand, but there was no one out this early. The cloak was really more of a precaution anyway because I was certain that no one in all of Hogwarts would be up this early to see us. The students were barely able to drag themselves out of bed for breakfast during the week, let alone before dawn on a weekend.

I pushed through the doors of the Great Hall and grinned to myself when I heard Rose yawn loudly. My girl was not at all a morning person, and I knew I was pushing my luck by waking her up before the sun, but this was some place I was desperate to take her to. I didn't care if she was tired and annoyed right now because as soon as we got to our destination, all of that would change.

We made it to the edge of the grounds to the gate that led to Hogsmeade in what felt like record time. I was so eager to get off the grounds that I practically had a skip in my step. I led—okay, dragged—Rose to an alcove that was hidden away in the darkness. The sky was starting to get just a bit lighter, and I knew we didn't have much time. As soon as we were hidden, I reached forward and pulled the invisibility cloak off of her. She smiled sleepily at me, and I grinned back as I shoved the cloak into the bag I had slung across my body.

"What are you up to?" she said, smiling through a yawn.

I leaned forward and kissed the tip of her nose. "You'll see."

A moment later, I took her hand again, and in a flash I felt the familiar sense that my entire body was being pulled through a tiny straw. I concentrated hard, and as soon as it began, the feeling was over, and my feet slammed against solid ground, and I stumbled a bit as I tried to regain my center. I felt Rose stumble, too, so I pulled her into my arms and wrapped my arms around her shoulders. She immediately buried her face in my chest and wrapped her arms around my waist as she inhaled my scent. I smiled as she pulled back to look at me.

I was so happy that she seemed to be in good spirits. I had fully prepared for her to be throwing tantrums and whining the entire time about how early it was, but she had been smiling at me and cooperating—albeit tiredly—ever since I'd gotten her out of bed. Just one of the reasons why this girl was perfect for me.

"You look seriously hot in flannel," Rose said. I grinned and moved my hands up to cup her neck and tip her head up so I could plant a soft kiss on her lips. She sighed and leaned into me, but when she tried to deepen the kiss, I just smiled against her mouth and pulled back. She pouted prettily up at me, and I almost gave in, but the sky was getting even lighter now and we had a place to be.

"Later," I said lowly. It was a promise, and it took all my power not to respond to her shiver of awareness. I shook my head very slightly and backed up and put Rose's hand in mine as I adjusted the bag hanging across me.

"Where are we?"

I looked up at the dark canopy of trees above us. From here, I could hardly see the sky because the trees were so dense, but occasionally I would catch a glimpse of patches of early dawn sky. I didn't answer Rose's question because soon she would see, and I couldn't wait to see the look on her face when we walked through the trees and she got to experience the reason why I had woken her up before the sun.

I sped up the pace of my steps, and Rose giggled behind me as she tried to keep up with my long strides.

"Scorp—"

Rose suddenly cut herself off with a gasp when we made it to the edge of the trees and stepped out from the shade of the canopy above us into a large open meadow that dropped off onto a steep hill in front of us. Beyond the edge of the plateau we were standing on, there was a huge house that looked essentially like a castle. There were tall towers and turrets all around the house—if it could be called a house—and an enormous domed roof in the center of it all with a white weathervane on the top. The house was made of stones that could be dated to the middle ages, and the house was surrounded by tall, perfectly-manicured hedges, a beautiful white fountain and clear blue ponds.

"Welcome," I said to Rose as I slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her close as the sun finally began to rise just behind the huge house. "To Malfoy Manor."

Rose jerked her head over and up to look at me. "You brought me to your house. Oh my god, Scorpius, look at me"—she gestured wildly to herself—"I look like a complete slob." She lifted her hands and ran them through her hair. She was absolutely wrong—she looked bloody gorgeous. "Your parents—oh my god."

I chuckled and lifted my arm to let it droop around her shoulders. "My parents are gone until next week. It was their 30th anniversary a few weeks ago so they took a trip to Italy for a month."

Rose let out an audible sigh of relief, and then glanced up at me, all smiles again. "Please tell me that you're going to take me to Italy for our 30th anniversary."

A tremor went through me at the thought of 30 years with Rose—it was a tremor of such joy and anticipation that I thought for a second I might have to scream or something just to let out some of that feeling. Yes, I would take her to Italy—I would take her to see the entire world if that meant I got to have a lifetime with this girl with whom I was so madly in love.

"I promise," I said with a smile, and then moved to stand behind her and wrap my arms around her front and rest my cheek against the top of her head as I gazed out at the sunrise I had so desperately wanted her to see. "One day," I told her as the sun cast a beautiful orange glow over the land and the house in front of us as it rose above the house, "we'll live here together. One day Malfoy Manor will house me and you and our kids. And one day, our son will take a girl he loves to this spot, and he'll show her her future for the first time."

"Scorpius."

When I heard the emotion in her voice, I moved to stand next to her and turned her to face me. I gripped her shoulders and smiled when I saw that her eyes were filled with tears.

"It's beautiful," she said, turning her head and looking out at the home I'd grown up in. A tear slipped out of her eyes, and I reached up to wipe it away with my thumb.

I smiled. "Why are you crying?"

"I don't know," she said hastily, wiping the rest of the tears away so they couldn't fall. "It's stupid—I'm being stupid. I just—man, I just really, really like you." She grinned up at me, and I returned the grin. Then I turned back to the sunrise and put my arm around her again. She gripped my waist tightly.

"I used to come up here all the time when I was younger. Just to think about stuff… You know, school, Quidditch, whatever." I shrugged. "And once when I was about fourteen, I told myself that when I found the person I wanted to spend forever with, I would take her up here, and I would show her this beautiful view that meant so much to me. It was like… I thought, I'll show her what brought me happiness before she did."

Rose let out a small sob, and I looked down at her.

"I'm sorry," I said, pulling her into my arms again. She buried her face in my chest, and I wrapped my arms around her shoulders tightly. "I don't mean to make you cry."

She looked up at me and smiled. "I'm just crying because I'm so happy," she said. Then she shoved at my shoulder lightly. "Who knew you could be so romantic?"

"Hey," I said with mock offense. "I'm extremely romantic."

Rose smirked as she reached up to slide her arms around my neck. "Yeah, saying to me, 'Rose, I love the way you taste,' while you go down on me is extremely romantic," she said sarcastically.

I threw my head back and laughed as she echoed my words from the night before. Maybe she had a point.

"You're the only person I've ever taken here, Rose."

She looked up at me with renewed tears sparkling in her eyes. "Really?"

I nodded. "There's never been a girl that's made me feel like… forever… you know? Not until you."

"I love you," she breathed before pressing her face into my chest again. "So much it hurts."

I sighed and held her tightly. "I know the feeling." She looked up at me, and the look in her eyes nearly brought me to my knees. In this moment, I knew that Rose Weasley had ruined me for other women—that there would never be another woman who loved me or who I loved as much as I loved the woman in my arms. She smiled, and I smiled, and then I stepped away from her—noting her sigh of disappointment at the loss of contact—and I grabbed her hand.

"Come on."

I guided her down the steep hill that led to the entrance to Malfoy Manor. At one point, she stumbled, but I caught her up in my arms, and she smiled and held onto me tightly. My heart twisted at the sight of her looking up at me with such love in her eyes. What had I done to deserve her? This girl who was smart, funny, talented, and made me feel like the happiest man on earth? What had I ever done to deserve this kind of happiness? I had a beautiful girl who was in love with me. I had hurt her more than once, but every time, she forgave me, and each time she did, I felt her give more and more of herself to me. I loved her more than I could ever possibly put into words, and I knew deep down that I was going to spend the rest of my life making her happy and being made happy by her.

"What are you thinking about?" Rose asked me when we got to the bottom of the hill and we turned into some shrubbery that led to the gated entrance of the Manor.

"You." I was always thinking about her.

"Oh, really?" she asked, smiling up at me. "Good. Because I was just thinking about you."

I smirked down at her. "Yeah? What about me?"

"I was thinking about how much I can't wait to fuck you in the bed you slept in all your life."

My eyes widened with shock and glee. Rose was usually so shy when it came to saying what she wanted, and when she finally did, she always blushed like crazy. I didn't know if it was being here with me, the fact that she was tired, or the fact that she just wanted me that badly, but whatever gave her the nerve to say what she wanted, I hoped it stuck.

I blinked slowly and tried to calm myself down. I had wanted to show her around the place when we got there, and if I thought about her naked beneath me in my bed, we would hardly make it past the front doors.

"Baby… god, I want that, too."

She smiled and bit her lower lip, making my cock jerk in my pants. "Well, let's make it happen."

I groaned. "I wanted to give you a tour."

"Oh, okay," she said with a shrug and a mischievous look in her eyes. "Tour it is."

I let out a slow breath as we got to the wrought iron gates that blocked the entrance to the house. "You're killing me. You know that, right?" I said to her as I put my hand on the gate and it dissolved in front of us. The Manor gate had a charm that recognized the members of my family so that they could get in. It was the same charm I had used on the entrance to my quarters in the dungeons that allowed Rose and me to get in whenever we wanted without keys or wands.

"Now, that would be a shame," Rose said as she walked up to walk in step with me and put her arm around my waist as I slipped my arm around her shoulders. "If I killed you, who in the world would ever keep me satisfied?"

I shook my head and pulled her closer as we walked up the brick walkway that led to the huge entrance doors to the house. "I knew it. You only want me for my body."

I looked down at her and she was smiling when she said, "Well, I guess I could just constantly masturbate to old memories of you keeping me satisfied."

We weren't going to make it past the front doors. I was going to lay her down and fuck her on this pathway if she kept talking like that. I groaned.

"It's not going to work, Rose. You're not going to skip the tour just because you talk like that."

"You sure about that?" she asked quietly as her hand slid down from my waist and to my arse so she could squeeze one of my cheeks in her hand. I sighed, pushed the doors of the house open and pulled her inside. As soon as we were in the doors and they were shut behind us, I turned and grabbed her. She yelped as I swung her around and set her down on an antique table that sat in the foyer.

"You wanna play it like that?" I asked as I stepped between her legs and ran my hands up and down her waist. She sighed and her eyes fluttered, and when my hands went down her waist again, this time when I slid my hands up, I took her shirt and sweater with me. I tossed them aside and moved my hands back to the now bare skin of her waist. Jesus, her skin felt so good beneath my hands—warm and soft and aware of me—I couldn't get enough.

I slid my hands around to her back as I stepped closer and she scooted to the edge of the table so that she could wrap her legs around me. I moved my hands to her arms and slid them up until I was cupping her neck. I reveled in the shiver of awareness that rippled through her as she looked up at me with her big, blue eyes. I loved when she looked at me like this—like I was the only person in the world that she could see or would see or would ever see—the look that told me that I was adored, that there was no one else she would rather be with, that I was her everything, that she belonged to me.

"God I love your eyes," I told her as I searched them for all the signs and looks that I loved so much. "I could get lost in them forever." She sighed and tipped her head back a bit more so I could look into her clear blue crystals. "They're like… god, they're like oceans," I said as I made circles with my thumbs on her jaw. We were so close—as close as we could be so that I could still see her eyes clearly—and I was dying to get closer, but I also just wanted to look in her eyes forever. "Baby, you'd have to send in a search party," I said with a smirk. "Because I will get so lost in those oceans."

She laughed and bowed her head forward to rest on my chest. "You are such a dork," she said.

I feigned being wounded at her words when she pulled away and looked at me. "Here I am professing my undying love for your eyes and you cut me to the quick."

"Just shut up and kiss me," she said, gripping the fabric at my waist and pulling me closer. I grabbed her face in between my hands again and kissed her roughly, smiling against her mouth when she let out a little moan of satisfaction. I loved the sounds she made—the sounds that told me she was wild for me and the way I made her feel.

I slipped my tongue into her mouth to taste her, and I was blown away by how good it was. Every time I kissed her I was reminded of the first time we kissed. I'd done it without thinking. She had just looked so beautiful, cradled in my lap and vulnerable with the pain I had caused her, and I wanted to make it go away, and I kissed her. Without thinking about the consequences, I had kissed her, and from that moment on, I had been wrecked. All I had wanted from then on was to have my mouth on her and never stop, and it had shaken me up—that overwhelming way she made me feel had terrified me as much then as it did now. Now I had learned to embrace it, but every time I kissed her, I was reminded.

"Scorpius."

When she sighed my name, I reached up and pulled my bag over my shoulders and let it drop to the floor. I dove back in, kissing her fiercely, our tongues doing a mad dance. Rose was practically panting, and I wasn't far off from doing the same. Our breath mixed together until I had to pull back for air and I moved down to kiss her neck. Damn, she tasted good. Her legs around my waist tightened, and she moaned at my kisses and when she felt how hard I was for her. I gripped her hips and yanked her against me—even though she really couldn't get any closer—and she wrapped her arms around my neck so that now she was completely wrapped around me. I still couldn't get enough.

I slid my hands up her back and deftly unclasped her bra. I pulled back for a split second so I could pull it off her and toss it on top of her shirt and sweater that I had discarded. A moment later, I attached my mouth to one of her already erect nipples and sucked it gently. Rose cried out and arched into me, and then she gripped my shoulders in the midst of her pleasure. She was making these slow, circular movements with her hips, making me impossibly harder, and I couldn't tell if she knew what she was doing or if it was just an involuntary movement as I pleasured her. Either way, I wanted her to keep doing it.

I moved my mouth to her other nipple, and rolled her wet nipple between my fingers as I sucked at the other. She was whimpering quietly and pushing against me, and I wanted so much to be inside her, but I also wanted her desperate for me. I always wanted her desperate for me.

Rose moved her hands from my shoulders so that she could fumble with the clasp on my jeans. I grabbed her hands and pinned them down so that her palms were resting flat on the table and my hands were covering hers.

"Scorpius," she moaned in protest. I looked up at her and smiled at the flush on her face and the dilation of her pupils. She tried to get her hands out from under mine, but I gripped them tightly and leaned in to kiss and bite and lick her neck. She tilted her head to the side to give me access, and the protest died in her throat.

I moved my hands forward and unbuttoned her jeans before sliding the zipper down. Then I stepped back and pulled her black flats off her feet and let them drop to the floor before I got a hold of the ends of her tight jeans and pulled them off of her. She hadn't put on any underwear when she had slipped her jeans on this morning, and I had to bite back my urge to just ram into her when I saw her sitting naked on the table, open and ready for me.

"Scorpius." Rose sighed my name again, and I stepped back between her legs and cupped her face in my hands to kiss her deeply. She was eager and hungry for me, and I returned the kiss with equal fervor, wanting her just as desperately as she wanted me. She tried to reach for my jeans again, but I gripped her wrists to stop her. There was something incredibly erotic about me being fully clothed and Rose being completely naked and at my mercy. I rubbed my clothed erection against her seam and she moaned and arched into me, trying to push herself as close to me as she could.

Our open mouths were touching, but we weren't quite kissing. Rose was trying to get her hands out of my grip and get me naked, and I was thrusting against her, making her moan and shimmy closer to me.

"Fuck me, Scorpius," she said against my mouth. I twitched a bit at her words, and when she flicked her tongue out to tease mine, I pulled back and dropped to my knees on the marble floor.

I pulled Rose to the edge of the table and sealed my mouth over the slickness between her legs. She let out a high-pitched, breathy moan and leaned back and braced herself with her hands on the table behind her so she could get closer. She moaned my name and I sucked on that little bundle of nerves that was sure to push her over the edge. I then began to alternate between sucking it and flicking it with my tongue the way I knew drove her insane.

She slipped a hand into my hair and fisted it tightly as she began to moan continuously and slowly thrust her pelvis toward my mouth. I rimmed her entrance with my tongue and her legs stiffened, and all it took was one more suck to her clit, and I knew she would come. Instead of letting that happen, though, I stood up, ignoring her wail of protest as I quickly unbuttoned and unzipped my jeans, yanking them down just enough to free myself, and then shoved myself inside her.

Rose let out a low, satisfied groan and wrapped her legs tightly around me as I began to slowly push in and out of her. She felt so fucking good, I could hardly stand it. Every time I was inside her it was a struggle not to release myself before we were both ready. If I could, I would stay inside her all the time, pleasuring us both until our bodies literally could no longer take it anymore. But I couldn't do that because as much as I loved sliding in and out of her, I loved watching her come undone more. The look of pure love and ecstasy when I finally pushed her over that edge was something I could never live without.

My arms were braced on either side of her, and she was gripping my biceps as I tried to push deeper and deeper. I gripped her arse and yanked her close, causing her to cry out and then moan loudly. My name was like a benediction on her lips, and she was able to focus herself enough so she could quickly undo the buttons of my shirt and slip her hands through it to press her palms against my back and pull me closer.

I bowed my head and sank my teeth into her shoulder as I picked up the pace of my movements, driving into her, making the feet of the table occasionally bump against the ground. My hands on her arse pulled her close to meet each of my thrusts, and she held onto me just as tightly, craving the closeness that I always so desperately wanted to give her.

With one particular direction of my thrusts, Rose clenched around me and moaned loud and long into my ear. I continued to push in and out, drawing out her orgasm as long as I could until I was spilling myself inside her with one last thrust and a loud grunt.

We stayed where we were for several minutes, panting heavily and wrapped up in each other in the same position while we tried to come back from that high. I loved her so much that it was nearly unbearable, and if I could, I would stay here, wrapped up in her like this forever.

"So about that tour," Rose said with a breathy laugh.

I grinned and leaned back a bit. "Well," I said gesturing with my hand. "This is the foyer."

"It's nice," she said. "Very welcoming."

I rolled my eyes at her and slowly slid out, trying not to get hard again at the feel of it and the wet sound it made. I reached down into my bag and grabbed out my wand so I could clean us both up.

Back when our relationship was brand new, in the course of cleaning us up once, I had told Rose that I knew some contraception charms, so we wouldn't have to worry about that Muggle contraception that came in the foil packets. She had informed me, however, that she had been using a pill form of Muggle contraception for years since her mom had suggested it to regulate her cycle. I didn't want to talk about Muggle things like "cycles" and "contraception," so I had quickly changed the topic, but it was nice that I never had to worry about anything because Rose was responsible and always thought of everything all the time. My perfect girl.

I tossed my wand back into my bag and tucked myself into my jeans before zipping and buttoning up and then reaching to start on the buttons on my shirt. Rose hopped off the table and walked to where I had tossed her clothes so she could slip them back on. I watched her as she slipped her tight jeans on-the jeans that I loved because they made her arse look fucking spectacular. I watched as she slipped her arms through the straps of her bra and then clasped it behind her, and finally I watched her slip her shirt and then her sweater back over her head as I finally finished buttoning my shirt up.

"You checking me out?" she asked as she turned to me while I was hanging my bag up on the coat rack across the hall from the table we had just fucked on. If only my parents knew what was going on in this house while they were away. I withheld a smirk at the thought.

"Always," I responded.

Rose walked up to me and slipped her arms around my waist and looked up at me with the big blue eyes that had gotten us into this mess in the first place.

"That was incredible, fritz," she said, using the nickname that I had grown extremely fond of.

I leaned down and kissed her forehead. "What do you want to do now?"

Her eyes darkened a bit, but she just smiled. "I believe I was promised a tour."

Rose gasped as she pulled away from my kiss.

"I love your kitchen," she said breathily with a smile.

I currently had her pressed up against an island with marble countertops in the middle of the kitchen. She leaned back on her elbows, and I gripped her waist, smiling down at her.

Practically every stop on the tour had descended to this precise situation. When I had shown her the family room, she had pushed me onto the couch, straddled me, and pressed her mouth to mine. When I had shown her the study, she had pushed me down onto my father's desk chair and straddled me again. When I had shown her the library, it was my turn to push her against a shelf of books and seal my mouth over hers. When we had walked down the hallway and I showed her all the old artwork, I had lifted her against the wall in between two paintings that were worth more than a year of my salary at Hogwarts, and she had wrapped her legs around me while our tongues battled.

We couldn't get enough of each other. I think some of it had to do with the fact that we were out in the "real world"—well, out of Hogwarts—and we could touch and kiss and do whatever we wanted without worrying that anyone would find us. We didn't have to be in secret for the first time in months, and it felt incredible.

I thought it also had to do with the fact that Rose was rewarding me for being so romantic. She wanted to show me how happy I was making her, and she was succeeding.

Rose leaned up and nuzzled her face into my neck as her hands moved to run up and down my biceps. I loved it when she did that. "When do I get to see your room?" she asked huskily.

"No way," I said, shaking my head and leaning back to look at her. "If we go up there, we'll never leave."

Rose smiled and tried to lean in again. "That's the plan." I backed away, and she whined. "Scorpius."

"Don't you want breakfast?"

I had heard Rose's stomach rumbling earlier, but she hadn't said anything or reacted to it, being too distracted by my lips on her neck while we were in the library.

"Are you going to coo—?"

Rose's question was answered before she could even ask it because in that moment, a little house elf came around the corner wearing a pair of my dad's old dress shoes that were much too big for him, a white shirt that used to be mine when I was little but that hung past his knees, and a bowtie that my mother had taught him to tie. Rose yelped.

"Oh my god—you scared—"

"Rose, this is Chuckie. Chuckie, this is my girlfriend, Rose."

"You have house elves?" Rose hissed to me as she pushed me away and moved to where Chuckie was standing. She went down to one knee and held out her hand. "Hi, Chuckie. I'm Rose."

Chuckie took Rose's hand and bowed deeply. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance ma'am," Chuckie said in his squeaky, yet somehow deep and firm, voice.

"Remember what I told you, Chuckie?" I asked him.

"Yes, Master Scorpius. I am not to tell Master Draco or Missus Astoria that you were here or that you brought a friend."

I nodded and put my hand down in front of him. As I had taught him, Chuckie brought his hand to mine to high five me.

"Awesome. Thanks, Chuck."

Chuckie had been the house elf in my family since before I was born. He was formal and polite and serious, but he was also like family. He taught me how to cook and how to pick berries. He also kept nearly all of my secrets and was the first friend I had ever had.

"Scorpius," Rose said, standing up and giving me a stern look. "Can I talk to you for a moment?"

I frowned at her. "Er, sure—"

"Your breakfast is waiting for you outside when you're finished, Master Scorpius," Chuckie said. He then bowed deeply once more and left the room.

"Rose, what's—"

I was cut off when Rose shoved me as hard as she could. I hardly moved, but I got the message she was trying to send. She was pissed.

"You have house elves!" she hissed angrily.

"We have one house elf," I corrected.

"Oh, whatever!" she snapped. She tried to shove me, but I grabbed her wrists.

"Rose—"

"I can't believe I didn't know this. Oh, my god." She tried to get her hands out of my grip but I held tightly. "Well, just so you know, I will not be eating a breakfast served up by your slave."

"Hold it right there," I said, feeling anger bubble to the surface, but she went on.

"Do you know who my mother is?"

"Yes, what—?"

"My mother is Hermione Granger. She led the charge for house elf rights years ago. She wrote that legislation that gave house elves rights to better working and living conditions. I grew up with that, and you—oh, my god—you have one right here under your roof!"

"First of all, Chuckie is free. He's not a slave. We pay him. Didn't you notice that he was wearing clothes? Second of all, Chuckie is my friend. He's like family to us, and we have never treated him badly. Ask him yourself—"

"Oh, like he would tell me the truth! He's enslaved to you—"

"Rose, don't say that again," I bit out angrily. I was impressed by her passion about the rights of elves, especially because my father felt passionate about it, too, for—according to my mother—pretty specific reasons, none of which I knew the extent. Based on what my mother had told me, when Chuckie had first come to the Manor, he had been terrified and shaky—always afraid that he was going to upset my parents and do something that would make him have to punish himself—it wasn't until they freed him and hired him for pay that he realized no one at Malfoy Manor would never hurt him.

So I was impressed by Rose's passion, truly, but I wasn't going to allow her to insult Chuckie or my family with her accusations.

Her face softened only a bit when she realized how upset I was about what she was saying.

"I—"

"Chuck isn't our slave. Don't say that again, I'm serious. Chuckie is family. I care about the rights of house elves, too, Rose. And I care about Chuckie."

Rose closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. When she opened her eyes, there was a change in them.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly.

I walked up to her and pulled her into my arms. She slid her arms up and around my neck while I slid my hands back and gripped her arse in my hands like I loved to do.

"I should have explained," I said. "But trust me, it's not at all how you're imagining it."

She sighed, and I watched as the anger slid from her face. "Okay."

I smiled. "I had no idea you were this passionate."

She shrugged with a small smile. "It runs in the family."

I leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her lips. "I love you," I told her. "You trust me, don't you? You know I wouldn't treat anyone like you're imagining?"

She nodded. "Yes. I know. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I get it." Then I sighed and smiled and pulled away from her so I could grasp her hand in mine. "What do you say we go have some breakfast?"

She nodded quickly again, and I pulled her out of the doors that led to the backyard to where I had asked Chuckie to set up breakfast.

We ate most of the breakfast in relative silence. I had noticed Rose's eager face when she saw the beautiful landscape behind the house—clear blue ponds, bright green decorated hedges, and a huge white stone fountain—but she hadn't said anything. She had just stared for a while as she sat at the wicker table that Chuckie had dressed up for us.

Rose picked at her cherry pastry and sipped her orange juice while I watched her, trying to get inside her head. I could tell she was still upset about Chuckie, but I didn't know what I could do to ensure her that it wasn't the way she had always imagined house elves being treated. Thanks to that legislation her mother had worked to pass, it wasn't the way it had been decades ago for anyone, and my father would have never allowed Chuckie to be treated poorly, with or without the legislation.

"You can ask me about him if you want," I said, breaking the silence. Rose looked up at me with a frown and a question in her eyes. "Chuckie, I mean. If it will make you feel better, I'll answer any questions you might have."

She took a deep breath and stared at her plate. "How long has he been here?"

"Since before I was born. He was a present from my grandparents when my parents got married."

As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I knew they were wrong. Rose gripped her fork tightly and closed her eyes. I could tell she was trying to reign in her anger, and I didn't really blame her.

It was true that my Grandfather Lucius and my Grandmother Narcissa had given Chuckie to my mom and dad as a wedding present. My mother said at first my father had been enraged—"Clearly you have learned nothing about me over the last few years if you think this is an acceptable wedding gift!"—but he had been determined to make Chuckie's life a good one, so he had taken him in and after he had gained Chuckie's trust, my father had given him clothes and told him he could either leave, or he could stay at the Manor and work for pay. Chuckie had chosen to stay, and although he had struggled with the concept of receiving payment, he had settled in as our paid service fairly comfortably after that.

He lived in a little house on the edge of the property with his wife, Clarabelle, who had been freed from service years ago and decided not to go back. She mostly stayed in their house, tending to their garden, reading—which my father had taught Chuckie to do, who had in turn taught Clarabelle—and keeping the house tidy. We rarely saw her except on Christmas when we had dinner as a family: me, my mother, my father, my paternal grandparents, and Chuckie and Clarabelle.

To this day, I remember the look of complete and utter shock on my Grandfather's face on the first Christmas that Chuckie and Clarabelle had joined us. My Grandmother had dipped her head into her glass of wine to conceal her laughter at my Grandfather's reaction.

I explained all this to Rose, and she listened intently, not interrupting or looking at me in a way that told me she was upset. She was just listening to everything. When I finished telling her everything about Chuckie and my family's relationship with him, I saw Rose frowning and staring thoughtfully at her glass of orange juice.

"What is it, Rose? I don't want you to think—"

"It's fine, Scorpius. No, you're right. He's like family. I get that. I just…" She trailed off and her frowned deepened. I could tell she was grappling with what she wanted to say.

"It's okay, baby, just say it."

"When… if we live here… Scorpius, I can't have a house elf." She looked up at me with fear etched all over her beautiful face—fear at the possibility and what I thought was fear that I would be upset about what she was saying. "I understand that he's like family to you and you clearly love him and so do your parents, but… Scorpius, I would never be able to have my mother over here if we had a house elf. Even if we treated him well, I just… I'm not judging your family—not anymore, I swear—it's just not something I could do. I—"

"Rose." I cut her off with a soft, yet firm, voice. She was rambling like she always did when she was nervous or upset. But she didn't have to explain further. I understood where she was coming from, and I would never put her in a position that made her feel the way she felt right now. But still… I couldn't help but feel wonderment and excitement at Rose's words. "If we live here…"

"First of all," I began. "When we live here. Not if." She sucked in her lips to hide her smile, and I grinned at her. "Second of all, Chuckie would probably go off with my parents when they left. He works for them; he's not bound to the Manor."

"You know, that's my other question," Rose said brightly, her mood already lifted significantly knowing I was okay with us not having house elves. It wasn't something I needed. All I needed was for Rose to live here with me and be happy. "What happens when we move in here? Your parents just have to leave?"

I chuckled. "Malfoy Manor has been in my family's possession for centuries. It's tradition in the Malfoy Family that when the oldest son gets married, he and his new family inhabit the Manor, and the former patriarch and his wife move to one of the other uninhabited Malfoy properties."

"Geez," Rose said. "How much property does your family own?"

I grinned. "More than you want to know about."

Rose just shook her head with a smile. "Where will your parents go?"

"Probably where they are now. They're in Tuscany at a villa owned by our family, and my parents love that place. I could definitely see them growing old there."

Rose sighed and rested her chin her palm. "That's so romantic."

"Where do you want to go?" I said with a grin. "When our oldest son takes over this place, I mean."

"Hmm," Rose said thoughtfully with a small smile. "Does your family own property in France?"

I let out a short laugh. "Oh, baby, take your pick—north, south, east, or west."

Next chapter:

Albus and Rose both deal with exposed secrets.