Rose had been awake for almost twenty minutes. She would ordinarily have started the day off with a bang. Not figuratively. Literally. Rose liked lazy morning sex. Of course there was a lot less of an opportunity for that, now that she had dumped her modeling career and was killing herself in Healer training. But today was her Sunday off and it was also the day of the formal announcement of Scorpius' candidacy.

She had been against the idea from the start. Having grown up (albeit unwillingly) in the Potter/Weasley family she knew from a very early age what it was like to live in the public eye. But until very recently it hadn't really bothered her all that much. She enjoyed the attention of the press. It gave her a buzz and it royally pissed her mother off. And there was nothing Rose liked more than annoying her mother. She had settled down as of late though. Apparently pictures of one on a table dripping in champagne and pressing oneself onto a random boy weren't conducive to a relationship. Scorpius pretended not to care but Rose knew him well enough to know that he was annoyed.

She hated to admit it but that was a little bit of a turn on. Angry Scorpius was almost sexier than calm Scorpius. And at least that meant he cared. Rose was a little bit scared about how much she cared about him. And more than a little bit scared about how she desperately wanted his approval and affection. The thing about Scorpius though was that he wasn't very demonstrative. The closest to being demonstrative he had ever gotten to was when he showed up at her cousin's wedding and declared his love (which granted was quite a public demonstration). But he was just so closed off somehow. And even though she knew he cared about her, she wouldn't mind it at all if he said he loved her once in a while. Or ever.

"Up you get," Rose said, whacking a sleeping Scorpius in the chest.

He grunted and turned over.

"Well I am not the one trying to run for Minister," Rose said tartly. "So get up Malfoy."

"Malfoy?" Scorpius mumbled. "Are you mad at me?"

"Get up," Rose said. "I'll be in the shower."

"Wait," he said blearily. "I want to join you."

"Not today," Rose said, tapping the watch on his wrist. "You have a date with the press that you do not want to be late for."

Scorpius groaned. "Hate the bastards."

"Well after that incident with the cameraman at Henly's they don't like you very much either," Rose said.

"Okay I'll start making breakfast while you shower," Scorpius said. "Merlin, we really need to move into a house with two bathrooms."

Rose didn't even realize he had asked her to move in with him until halfway through her shower. And even then she wasn't so cure if that's what he meant. Merlin's balls, she cursed. Why did she have to fall in love with such an unreadable bastard?

Scorpius tried to hide a smile when Rose came out of the shower, still dripping wet with a towel wrapped hastily around her.

"When you said we had to move," she said very slowly. "Do you mean-?"

"Well we practically live together now anyway," Scorpius said. "Wouldn't it be more convenient?"

"Are you asking me to move in with you Scorpius?" Rose asked seriously.

"Do you want to?" he asked.

Rose just nodded her head and let the towel fall off her.

"Well I think this deserves a bit of a celebration. Don't you?" she asked teasingly.

Scorpius just nodded his head. This was turning out to be an excellent morning.

Albus on the other hand was having a less than stellar morning. Sophie had been largely accurate in her predictions last night. No one had even noticed they were gone. They went back to Lily's house and he made small talk with the rest of his family feeling rather disgusted with himself. Sophie was in her element though. Albus didn't understand her and honestly he didn't want to. What he needed to do was stay far away from her. And from his brother because he couldn't look James in the eye anymore. And even though James wasn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed, he wasn't an idiot either. He would catch on soon enough. Not that it mattered anyway Albus supposed. After all he and James weren't exactly the closest. But he also knew that sleeping with James' wife was wrong. But Al never made good choices.

James knew something was wrong. He couldn't exactly put his finger on what but something was definitely off. His wife who had complained nonstop about moving here was suddenly acting far too happy. She had even kissed him good night. And then she just went to sleep. He pulled her towards him, moving his hands up her rather unnecessarily lacy nightwear but she just shook her head.

"Not tonight," she said.

This wasn't something James was used to. It was usually a whole lot of fighting before bed and then mind-blowing sex. It was never a kiss and then sleep. He had known Sophie for a very long time now and she still remained an enigma.

He realized that he was utterly unable to sleep. He rolled out of bed and walked over to the fireplace.

"Leaky Cauldron," he said, throwing a handful of floo powder into the fire.

The bar was definitely closed. The only person there was the slightly insane and fast asleep Caiphus Flatly, the old barman.

"Caiphus," James said, shaking him. "Wake up."

"Dementors!" Caiphus shouted suddenly sitting up straight with his eyes wide open.

"No," James said patiently. "It's me, James."

"Morgan?" Caiphus asked, putting his glasses on and squinting in James' direction.

James groaned internally. He had hoped his old Herbology teacher would be here instead. Talking to Caiphus was akin to hitting one's head against a wall.

"Potter," James said. "James Potter. I sat at the bar and drank most of your liquor when I was between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four.

"Ah," Caiphus said, grinning widely, displaying his many missing teeth. "James Morgan. Of course I remember you."

James sighed.

"This might seem a little but strange," James said, trying a different tack. "But I'm trying to get in touch with Ariana. Do you know where she stays?"

James determinedly ignored the fact that what he was doing may or may not have been borderline stalking.

Caiphus eyes narrowed. "Why do you want to know," he said, sounding more dangerous than crazy now.

"I want to- Oh it doesn't matter," James said, mentally punching himself in the face. This had been a bad idea from the get-go

a/n: Sorry for the lateness. And the time jumps in the story. I usually don't like time jumps but I suppose following different characters mean time jumps are an unfortunate side effect. Anyway I hope you like this chapterr. I shall try and be better about updates. Please tell me what you think :)