What a week it's been. I don't remember the last time this many things have happened in such a short period of time. I've gone from nervous to ecstatic to surprised to angry and then back again in only a few days time. I'm trying to focus on the good things, but that's not always the easiest thing to do.

The best of all the good things though, is that my hard work has finally paid off! My burn paste worked perfectly just last night. I was hard at work slaving away which is why you're getting this letter on a Sunday. Or possibly even a Monday, depending on the distance. I was too in the zone to step away and then of course my business partner and I had quite a bit of fun celebrating. It's a marvelous thing to see one's hard work pay off. Have you still not heard back yet about your research funding? It seems to be taking them awhile.

Don't think I'm ignoring what you asked. Believe me, I have given this a lot of thought. While the idea of diving further into whatever this is might slightly terrify me, I think I'm ready if you are. Assuming I hear back about a patten this week, I plan to be busy this coming weekend with getting the burn paste ready to sell. Would you be willing to hold out just a little longer and meet the following weekend? London would work perfectly for me.

Looking forward to hearing from you soon, and possibly seeing you as well.

Daisy

Rose slid the letter across the counter for Jane to read as she went back to packaging up multiple bottles of burn past. She was required to send at least a dozen samples of it to the ministry for certification, which had her in the store on a Sunday morning. Her business partner had only agreed to join her when she promised that she'd finally write her response to Leo. Rose had somewhat regretted telling Jane about his most recent letter when she'd done nothing but pester Rose about what she was going to write in response.

"You don't want to seem too eager," Jane had encouraged her. "Play a little hard to get."

"Jane," Rose had said with a disbelieving chuckle. "I've been putting this off for months now. How much more hard to get can I play this?"

Jane contemplated this for awhile before coming to a conclusion. "You're right. You don't need to play hard to get because you already are impossibly difficult to get."

"What?" Rose asked with an incredulous laugh. "I hardly believe that's true."

"Think about it," Jane said. "You dated Carter for three years and all you did in the end was drift apart, most likely because you never fully let him in. The same thing is happening again with Abel. Do you want to do the same with this bloke? Or is he maybe worth a little risk?"

Rose had spent some time thinking over Jane's evaluation, and found she couldn't help but agree with her assessment. However, that didn't mean she was going to bare her soul in her letter to him. She nervously watched as Jane read through the letter, her face failing to betray what she thought.

"Well?" Rose finally asked, unable to be patient anymore. "I didn't want to seem too business like about it, but I also didn't want to come across too eager. It's not cold, is it?"

Jane shook her head as she reread parts of the letter. "I think it works. But how you can possibly wait two full weeks is beyond me. I'd be dying if I were you." She folded the letter and handed it back to Rose, who sealed and addressed it before setting it aside to take to the post office later.

"I'm so nervous, though," Rose told her. "What if he's terribly dull in person and only interesting on paper?"

"What if he's hideous?" Jane said with a mischievous chuckle. Rose rolled her eyes as she began placing the jars of paste into a box.

"I'm more nervous about how well we'll actually get along in person. Though I suppose it wouldn't hurt if he's nice to look at."

Jane hopped down off her perch on the front counter, following Rose behind it to put on their coats.

"How exactly are you planning on handling the whole Abel situation? Are you going to break up with him?"

Rose sighed as she pulled on a knit cap, tucking her red curls behind her ears. "I don't know. We're having dinner with his parents next week so I'll finally get to meet them. We went out the other night and things seemed alright. "

She pocketed her letter and picked up the box that contained the cans of burn case. They headed out into the chilly mid-November air and made their way towards the post office, locking up the shop behind them.

"Do you really want a relationship that's defined by things seeming alright?"

"It could get better."

"But are you trying to make it better?"

Rose couldn't help but grudgingly admit that she hadn't been trying at all for the past few weeks.

"He's not trying either."

"And don't you want someone who's going to try? Someone who's going to fight for you?" Jane grew more determined as they grew closer to the post office. "And don't you want someone you want to fight for? Look at it this way; if Abel broke up with you today, how would it make you feel?"

The bell chimed over the door as they entered the post office. They were greeted with a smile from Mr. Herman, the white headed wizard who'd been the proprietor of the establishment for as long as Rose could remember.

"My goodness, Miss Weasley," he said with a joyful chuckle. "That's quite the package. Does this mean you were successful?"

Rose gave a proud nod. "Yes, sir. This goes straight the Ministry. And I think you know what to do with this." She gave him a wink as she handed over her letter to Leo. He gave an amused chuckle.

"The things you kids go about these days," he said with a shake of his head, taking inventory of the box and the letter. "Wonderful to see you, as always. I take it you won't work yourself too hard and actually take some time off today?"

Rose assured him that she would and wished the older wizard farewell before heading back out into the street, Jane right on her heels.

"Do you have an answer to my question?" she persisted. If Rose were perfectly honest, she would feel disappointed if things didn't work out between herself and Abel. Not because she felt like they could be something incredibly special or anything. It felt too soon to tell as far as she was concerned. But because it never felt good to fail. And there was another feeling that she had to admit she'd be likely to feel more.

"I'd probably feel a little relieved? Mostly because it means I wouldn't have had to do it myself. Is that completely cowardly?"

"Only slightly," Jane said with a teasing smile. They had gone into the shop rather early in the day and were meeting Hugo and Lily for a late breakfast at Sam's. Her brother and cousin were already seated when they arrived, deep in conversation. Lily abruptly stopped as they reached the table.

"Keeping secrets, are we?" Jane teased as she slid into Lily's side of the booth, Rose sitting opposite them and next to her brother.

"None of your business, Ryan," Lily said with a smile, throwing a slightly nervous glance at Rose. It was so brief that Rose wasn't even sure that she saw it, and forgot it almost immediately when her brother started asking about work and she gladly filled him in on all of her exciting news. Her brother had always been a joker and a laugh to be around, but he'd turned serious when he'd started working in the Department of Magical Law at the Ministry. The few times he did let loose were normally at parties and after he'd had a few drinks. She knew he saw Lily and Lucy and Louis quite frequently, but he didn't have much of a social life outside of their family, and it was a surprise to Rose when he'd actually suggested they get together that morning. He tended to work on weekends unless there was some sort of family event. She joyfully embraced the opportunity to spend time with him in an environment that didn't include her whole entire family.

"So, what made you come out of that hole you call work?" Rose asked after he'd congratulated her on her success. He gave a nonchalant shrug.

"It's been awhile since we've spent much time together. And Lily mentioned wanting to spend some time with you." He gave his cousin a subtle yet pointed look, which Lily expertly ignored, turning to Jane instead.

"So, Jane. Any new blokes in your life? You and Andrew finally ended things, yeah?"

Jane gave a pessimistic laugh. "Unfortunately, he's friends with just about everyone and when he said I'd be sorry I ended things, he really did mean that as a threat."

"How so?" Lily asked.

Jane grimaced. "He's made sure word got out that I'm a "raving bitch" who is "psychotic" and might have had every possible kind of STD."

Rose patted Hugo on the back as he choked on his pumpkin juice while Lily's jaw dropped in shock.

"I'm surprised you haven't heard the rumors," Rose said. "Well, Hugo not hearing it doesn't surprise me, but it's been spread around Sam's like wildfire."

"Wait," Lily said, a spark of mirth in her eyes as she pointed at Jane. "I did hear about you. Wow, you must have done a number on him. The things I heard were definitely not nice."

"I just decided not to put up with being treated like shit anymore," Jane said matter of factly. "If that means he's just going to spread a bunch of rubbish about me, then I'm glad to be rid of the arsehole."

"It's much easier to move on when they're arseholes," Lily said seriously, taking a large bite of her scone.

"Rose, since he wasn't an arsehole, was it difficult to get over Carter Thomas?"

Rose gave her brother a look of surprise at the question, while Lily took her turn to choke and Jane patted her on the back while looking at Hugo uncertainly. He was just watching his sister expectantly, trying to contain a smirk at the reaction he'd received.

"Well…" Rose began slowly. "I suppose, in some ways, it would have been easier to move on if he had been, but at least I didn't have to deal with any hurt. And we'd kind of already grown distant by the time we broke up."

"So, you're over him?" he pressed.

"Yes," Rose assured him. "It's been four years. Why?"

He gave a shrug and turned back to his meal. "No reason I guess."

"Have you talked to Molly lately?" Lily asked. Rose nodded excitedly.

"She said she's going to have a month off for the holidays which is fantastic."

"Must be nice to work in research," Hugo grumbled.

"What about you, Jane?" Lily asked, turning her attention to the girl next to her. "Holiday plans?"

"No," Jane said with a heavy sigh. "Mum's going to be busy with the benefit and Dad's spending it with Cleo's family." She said the last part with disdain, not even remotely hiding her dislike for her father's wife.

"And need I remind you that you're always welcome at my parent's for Christmas?" Rose teased goodnaturedly. Jane rolled her eyes but gave Rose a small grateful smile. She made light of the lack of closeness she had with her parents, but Rose knew Jane wished to have the type of family that Rose was blessed with. When Rose's parents had discovered what Jane's family life was like, they'd opened their home even more to her, and she now had an open invitation to the Weasley's anytime she felt like it.

"Are you going to be able to come home for a few days?" Rose asked her brother.

"I think so. I wasn't going to take much time off but the case I'm working on looks like it'll be all wrapped up by then and O'Malley is insisting I take a break."

"He should be," Lily said. "You haven't taken a break since you left Hogwarts."

"I go to parties and things," Hugo countered.

"I mean an actual vacation," she explained. "You might take the evening off from time to time, but I reckon we'd actually get more than just a glimpse of the Hugo we grew up with if you actually relaxed for a few days."

"Oh, wouldn't that be fun," Jane said to Lily while grinning at Hugo. "Maybe we could even get him to throw one of those illicit parties that went on once Rose and I left Hogwarts that he became so famous for."

Lily gave a scoff. "Please. He's definitely lost his touch as far as that's concerned."

"I'd very much appreciate it if you didn't gang up on me," hu grumbled.

"Come on, Hugh," Rose said, giving her brother a nudge. "Maybe we should get you a girlfriend."

"Why?" he asked, almost sounding offended by the idea.

"If she's the right one, maybe she could get you to loosen up."

"Did it ever occur to you all that maybe I just grew up?"

"Based on your drunken behaviour, I'd say the old Hugo's still in there," Lily say, looking affectionately at her cousin and best friend. Hugo didn't respond and focused in on his meal, his mood almost sour.

"Are you still wanting to do some snooping later?" Jane asked Rose, sensing the need for a subject change. Her choice of conversation immediately brought a scowl to Rose's face.

"Yes. But I'm still in denial that this is happening at all."

"What's this?" Lily asked in confusion. Rose took a steadying breath.

"It's recently been brought to my attention that a certain business is opening a shop in Diagon Alley that could directly affect my own store."

When Lily still looked confused, Jane clarified.

"Malfoy's opening up another U-Brew."

Lily's eyes widened in shock and Hugo grimaced.

"Seriously?" Lily asked incredulously. "He never said anything."

"Would he have told you?" Rose asked. Lily shrugged.

"Maybe. I guess I haven't really seen him since my birthday. When did he tell you?"

Rose shook her head as she took a drink of pumpkin juice. "He didn't. I actually heard about it from his ex."

"You know Melinda?" Hugo asked in surprise.

"Not really," Rose said, feeling awkward just remembering the encounter. "She came to my flat about a week ago. I don't even really know what she wanted but we talked for a bit and she just let it slip."

"Wait," Lily said in confusion. "Scor and Mel broke up? When?"

"A couple weeks ago," Hugo said.

"How do you know and Lily doesn't?" Jane asked, looking puzzled.

"Scorpius had to stop by the department for some paperwork the other day and we got to chatting," he said with a shrug as if it were no big deal. "Just sort of came up."

Rose let out a huff. "Well, he can get all friendly with my family as much as he wants. It's not going to stop me from trying to run his business into the ground."

Lily's eyes widened in surprise. "That's a little harsh, don't you think?"

"Lily, he's invading my turf!" she said indignantly. "I have every right to try and succeed over him."

"Which is why we are going to do some reconnaissance work," Jane said with a smirk.

Hugo sighed and rubbed his hand over his face. "Promise me you two won't do anything stupid. Like trespassing or vandalism."

"We'll try our best, but never fear - we'll let you know if we're in need of a good lawyer to get us out of tough spot." Jane said cheekily.

Hugo didn't look too pleased with that assurance, but decided to let it go.

Jane and Rose were planning to meet up later that evening for their investigation. They still weren't sure on the exact location, but Jane said she had a friend in the Housing and Development Department who was going to look into it for them. He was supposed to get her the information sometime that afternoon. In the meantime, Rose made her way back to her flat with every intention of taking some time to relax. She couldn't remember the last time she'd truly had a day off. Even the weekend Holly was born had been exhausting since they'd been at the hospital so late. However, her plans were derailed when she reached her front door. She'd decided to walk and enjoy the last few days of fall, and now she was very thankful she'd chosen not to apparate directly into her flat. The argument going on inside her flat carried down the hall. Rose stopped by her front door to listen for a moment, wanting to know what exactly she'd be getting herself into if she barged in on the altercation. She felt a mixture of relief and anxiety when she recognized the voice of her cousin's husband.

"You're being unreasonable!" Ben was saying. She heard Dom give a scoff. "We both agree we need to work through this together, yet you insist on keeping your distance. And when I do try and talk to you, you're completely closed off! Just tell me what the hell you want!"

"I want to trust you, damn it!"

The was a few beats of silence and Rose held her breath.

"You can, Dominique," was Ben's distressed reply. "I know I've made mistakes but you can trust me when I say I've learned from them. I never wanted to hurt you, but you hurt me that night too."

Silence once again. She heard Ben sigh and move to sit, most likely on the couch, as Dom refused to say anything.

"Dominique, I wanted a family with you." The honesty and pain in his voice had tears welling up in Rose's eyes, and she felt guilty about intruding on such a vulnerable moment, but she couldn't tear herself away.

"I wanted to give you that so much. I wanted to give us that. I'm so sorry I wasn't been able to."

She heard Dom sniffle. "I know."

"But, as much as I wanted that," Ben continued, his voice sounding stronger. "I wanted you more."

She could make out the sounds of Dom crying, and leaned closer to the door as their voices had grown softer.

"I'm so sorry," she heard Dom say through her tears. "I never should have said what I did that night and I shouldn't have pushed you away. I was just so scared that it was all falling apart and then I went and made it even worse."

She let out a sob and the only sound Rose heard for awhile was of her tears.

"I forgive you, you know."

Dom stopped mid sob and Rose heard the shock in her voice.

"You do?"

"Of course I do," Ben said as if it were obvious. "This isn't your fault and this isn't my fault. We both made mistakes and all that matters is that we forgive each other."

"Of course I forgive you," Dom assured him. "But, I called you a cheat and a bastard and refused to listen to you. Why would you forgive me for thinking so little of you?"

There was a beat of silence and Rose knew exactly what he was going to say a moment before the words left his lips.

"Because I love you, Dominique."

She heard Dom give another sob as Ben continued. "I want to work through this together and I want to be better for you and I want to fight for you. You're the best thing that ever happened to me, and I'm sick of being without you. I still want everything I wanted before, but none of that matters if I can't be with you."

Rose continued to listen for a few moments as Dom continued to cry. She heard her cousin say a whispered, "I love you. I love you so much," before they stopped talking all together. Assuming she knew what was happening on the other side of the door, Rose let out a sigh of relief and tapped her wand on the knob to unlock it. Deciding to pretend as if she hadn't heard a word, she made no attempt to be sneaky about her entrance.

They were sitting on the couch and Dom had her arms around her husbands neck, gripping him tightly as she buried her face in his shoulder, her legs across his lap as he held her around the waist. She didn't even move when Rose entered the room. Ben caught Rose's eyes and gave her a soft smile that she was happy to return.

"Love?" he whispered in his wife's ear. "Rose is here."

Dominique loosened her grip enough to turn and place her head on her husband's chest so she was facing her cousin. Her face was tearstained but peaceful. "Thanks for letting me stay," she said, her voice stuffy and raw from crying. Rose chuckled at Dom's choice of topic.

"Anytime. Though I'd prefer it not happen again under such circumstances."

Dom smiled and wound her arms around her husband's waist as he kissed the top of her head. Worry crossed Dom's face a moment later and she glanced up at her husband before looking at her cousin. Rose knew immediately what was going through Dom's head, and she regretted interrupting them, realizing there was something very important Dom needed to tell her husband, and it was rather obvious she hadn't yet. Rose racked her brain for an excuse to leave again, when Dom addressed her.

"Rose, would you be opposed to being a godmother to more than one child?"

Smiling and nodding, Rose watched as Dom sat up to look her husband in the eye. He didn't seem to have caught on to what his wife was saying as he looked at her in confusion. She took in a deep breath before forging ahead.

"I need to tell you something, and I truly hope you won't be too upset with me for not telling you sooner."

Worry crossed his features, but a moment later his eyebrows shot up and his gaze darted from her face to her stomach, where her hands were now resting, and back again.

"No," he said as if he couldn't quite believe it. Dominique nodded, still looking slightly worried.

"How do you feel about getting all those things you wanted?"

Still looking as if he couldn't quite believe it, a joyful grin started to spread across Ben's face, a matching one forming on his wife's. He let out a laugh, unable to suppress his joy as he held her tightly and kissed every part of her face he could reach as Dom laughed in delight. Rose smiled at the happy and growing family as Ben pulled away to place his hand on her belly and look down at it in awe, asking a flurry of questions. Thinking a walk around the block might give them enough time to be at a place where they could be properly interrupted, Rose quickly made a silent escape. What she didn't expect, was to find Abel, walking down the hall toward her flat as she left it.

"Abel?" she asked when she saw him. "What are you doing here?"

He gave her a brief kiss on the lips in greeting when he reached her. "Can't a bloke just come to see his girlfriend?"

She grinned at that and took his hand, jerking her head towards her closed front door.

"Ben and Dom are in there making up so I was going to go for a walk. Want to join me?"

He agreed and they headed down to the street, walking in the direction of the nearest park. It was still the early afternoon and the sun happened to be shining, making the cold November day easier to bear.

"There really was no reason you stopped by?" Rose asked, unable to feel confident that nothing else was going on. He shrugged, looking slightly guilty and confirming her suspicions.

"You know how I said we could have dinner with my parents next week?"

Disappointment filled Rose in an instant. She couldn't believe he was going to do this again.

"Seriously, Abel?" she said, dropping his hand and stopping on the sidewalk. He shoved his hands in his pockets and turned to face her. "Is it that they don't want to meet me, or that you don't want me to meet them?"

"It's neither," he assured her. "Dad's just so busy during Quidditch season and so's Mum. They're really dying to meet you. And you know I've been busy helping plan the benefit this year."

"I didn't, actually," she snapped. "You failed to mention that."

He sighed guiltily, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'll make it up to you, alright?"

"Like you made it up to me all the other times you've had to cancel?" she responded in annoyance.

"It's not my fault, Rose," he insisted. "I don't see why this is such a big deal to you anyway. We've only been together a few months and it's not even that serious. We haven't even slept together!"

"So you'll introduce me to your family once we've had sex?" she asked. "Wow, you really are a charmer."

"That's not what I meant," he groaned. "And I haven't met your parents yet either."

"That one is your fault," she said accusingly.

"Will you stop looking for reasons to be angry with me?" he asked in a calmer voice than she expected.

"I'm not looking for reasons," she said, taking a deep breath to calm down. "But it doesn't help when you keep giving them to me."

He didn't look too pleased with that sentiment. "I don't see what the big deal is. Can't we just take our time with this? You don't seem to want to rush things otherwise."

Her brow rose as she took in the subtleties of what he said. "And this is still about the fact that I won't sleep with you?"

He grunted in frustration, running his hands over his closely cropped hair. "Look, can we just move past this? This whole thing with my family really isn't something I can control and I'd appreciate a little patience."

Rose felt herself softening. If she were honest, she knew she was being a little unreasonable. They hadn't even been together for five months and she hadn't met Carter's parents till they'd been together almost a year.

"Alright, fine," she allowed watching him visibly relax as she moved to continue walking. He fell in step right beside her. "I probably overreacted."

"I understand," he said with a shrug. "You want to know that this is going somewhere. I get that."

She was surprised by the accuracy of his assessment, especially since she hadn't even realized that was the case herself.

"It's alright. So you're helping with the benefit this year?"

He was always happy to talk about work and Rose was content to listen to him carry on, especially when her thoughts were preoccupied. It had occurred to her that maybe the reason she wanted to know things were going somewhere was because she thought they weren't. Maybe she had forced the issue because she was looking for an easy way out. She wasn't proud of that, and she knew she had a lot of things to figure out that were moving beyond the simple realm of complicated.

"To Malfoy! And all of his many accomplishments!"

There was a cheer of agreement from around the bar at Archie's toast. Scorpius couldn't help but smile as his friend hopped down off the bar after calling the attention of all the patrons to raise a glass. He'd already had a few glasses of whiskey and his landing was a little wobbly.

"Seriously, mate," Archie said as he regained his footing, clapping Scorpius on the shoulder and draining the drink in his hand. "I'm like, bloody proud of you."

Scorpius laughed. "I'm a little proud myself, to be honest. I knew I had a shot but I never actually thought I'd get approved."

When he had received the letter letting him know he'd been awarded the grant that would fund his research project, he hadn't quite believed it. It had shown up at his flat that morning, and the fact that his guard was down since it was the weekend had upped his shock. He'd immediately apparated to Malfoy Manor to tell his parents, who'd both insisted that they knew all along he was going to receive good news. It meant a lot that his dad hadn't been shy in his praise either, ensuring him that, even though he knew Scorpius now had a lot on his plate, he'd do what he could to make sure his son didn't get overwhelmed, even offering to help oversee the forming of the research team he'd be needing. It was more than somewhat intimidating, knowing virtually no ground had been covered in the world of Blood Maledictions, and the work he wanted to do could potentially be ground breaking. But he was still excited about the other parts of the business. Things had really started to take off as far as his plans for the store. Construction was already underway and they were set to open at the beginning of February.

They were sitting at the bar and Archie had moved on to asking questions about the shop after Scorpius had affirmed that he'd still be in charge of development.

"They just got the walls painted and I'm supposed to go down tomorrow and okay it," Scorpius was saying. Archie's eyes lit up in excitement and he started whacking Scorpius on the arm.

"We should go look now!''

Scorpius looked at him like he was crazy. "It's ten o'clock on a Sunday night and you're drunk. I don't think a construction sight is a good idea."

"Come on," Archie whined. "We're young and single and no one's waiting for us to come home," he reasoned. "Live a little!"

"Visiting a construction sight in the middle of the night is living?"

Archie dismissed his friend's incredulity with a wave of his hand, standing from his stool and encouraging Scorpius to do the same.

"It's the perfect way to celebrate," he assured him, leading the way out of the bar. Scorpius just rolled his eyes, but he was in too good of spirits to argue, so he followed.

It was quiet the whole way there, and the stretch of the street was dark and abandoned except for the lamp posts that lined the sidewalk, since it was surrounded by other shops that were closed for the evening. When they reached the door, Scorpius tapped his wand on the handle, unlocking it and letting them in. The lanterns that were sitting around to help the construction workers see lit up with another flick of his wand. There was still some work to be done on the floors, and the ceiling was still being reinsulated, but the walls had been painted the same light blue as the Hogsmeade branch. The front counter had been put in, but still needed some finishing touches put on. They'd be doing all the shelving and other display tables once everything else was finished.

"Wow," Archie said, the alcohol likely encouraging him to be more impressed than he actually was. "It's beautiful."

Scorpius laughed, but he couldn't help but feel proud. The business had come a long way since he'd finished Hogwarts. When he started working for his father, they were mostly still operating from inside the Manor. Some of his friends had thought he was crazy to not pursue something on a larger scale, but he'd always believed that they'd make it to this point. It was still hard to believe they were actually there sometimes.

There was the sudden sound of people whispering close by, and Scorpius whipped around to face the front of the shop, his hand automatically pulling his wand in his pocket and killing the lights, the inside of the shop still somewhat lit by the light coming in through the windows. Archie had stilled as well, and Scorpius gave him a curious look as they waited. There had been nobody in the vicinity when they'd entered the shop and with everything closed, there was really no reason for anyone to be there unless it was for underhanded reasons. When they saw a shadow move past one of the window that was still covered by a tarp, Scorpius signalled for Archie to stay put as something clanged around outside. He quietly made his way towards the front door, listening closely. It had been left unlocked and he raised his wand as he saw the handle start to turn. Thinking quickly, he grabbed it and pulled the door before whoever was on the other side could push it open. He heard a yelp of surprise followed by a light thud as whoever the intruded was flew forward into the shop and onto the ground. In moments he was hovering over them, his wand pointed towards the face he couldn't quite make out. Before he could ask a question, someone behind him called out.

"Rose! Fucking hell are you alright?"

Scorpius' eyes widened in shock as he looked over his shoulder to find Jane Ryan standing in the doorway. Archie had moved forward during the commotion and was brandishing a lit wand in her terrified face. Hearing a grunt of pain coming from the floor, Scorpius looked back down to see Rose Weasley, gingerly sitting up and pulling a black knit cap off her head, revealing the frizzy red hair that would have been a dead giveaway if she hadn't covered it up.

"Bloody hell, Malfoy," she snarled. "Was that necessary?"

"You were trespassing," he challenged her. "Who's to say you weren't actually someone dangerous?"

She scowled at him, flexing her wrist that she'd most likely landed on in the fall. Sighing in resignation, he pocketed his wand and reached down to help her up. She looked at him questioningly for a moment before taking it with her uninjured hand and allowing him to pull her to her feet.

"Would you mind explaining to me what the hell you were doing on my property?" he asked, folding his arms and giving them an expectant look. Jane seemed like she'd rather do anything than answer his question, so Rose was left to do so.

"Just some harmless snooping," she said, as if it were no big deal. "You did the same to me."

"In the daylight during business hours."

Rose let out a huff of annoyance. "Whatever. You going to have us arrested for trespassing?"

He had no real intention of doing so, but he couldn't resist making her feel a little nervous. He narrowed his eyes at her and acted as if he were truly considering it before answering.

"I'll let you off with a warning," he told her, and was pleased to see her visibly relax, knowing he had the upper hand. "But I bet your many relatives would love to hear this story."

Her eyes widened in shock. "You wouldn't."

"What's stopping me?" he challenged. Frustration crossed Rose's face and she practically growled at him.

"Fine. What do you want?"

He shrugged and began slowly walking around her in circles, holding back a grin as she rolled her eyes at his dramatics. "Well, seeing as your business is thriving, I'd be a fool to waste such a valuable connection when I'd like mine to do the same."

"If you think for one second that I'd actually help you when you know full well you're competition, you're insane."

"Maybe," he said with a shrug, coming around to stop in front of her. "But I don't think you'd like it getting back to your mum that I caught you sneaking onto my property in the middle of the night. I doubt the head of the Department of Magical Law would be too pleased by that. Not the best conversation for Christmas dinner."

He knew he had her. Rose and her mother got along relatively well, but he knew that Hermione Weasley had ridiculously high standards and her daughter hated being on the receiving end of her judgmental looks.

"Fine," she said with a scowl. "One meeting, in a public place of my choosing. Deal?"

Scorpius smiled in triumph as she stuck out her hand to shake his. He was only too pleased to take it.

"Deal."

A/N: Hope it was worth the wait! Might feel like a bit of a filler but all important things of course :) Love you all and keep those reviews coming! They really do inspire me. You're the best!

Happy Reading :)