November 4, 2026

Rose awoke before Scorpius in the morning. She extracted herself from blankets, legs, and arms in the dark and ran to the loo naked because she wasn't going to turn on the lights just to find her clothes that were strewn about the room. It didn't even occur to her that Al could be up and moving, because she hadn't seen him poking around in so long. Luckily she didn't cross him.

I look like a wreck, she thought, as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. Hair was a mad mess of snarls and curls, a light dusting of dirt was smeared on her face and arms from her visit to the basement the other day, and she had a few scrapes on her knees and elbows. To top it off, old scars and bruises littered her body like splattered paint on white paper. Yet, despite it all she felt better than she had every other day this month – and this year. She hummed a few notes under her breath as she donned a black robe hanging on the backside of the door. She didn't quite feel like showering, coffee was calling her name.

It was almost noon surprisingly, the late night taking a toll on her sleeping schedule. Not that she was complaining as she shimmied around the kitchen opening the cupboards and filling the coffee pot – she felt like there was a ball of happiness inside her chest that was bursting in waves, radiating to all her extremities. She was almost dancing in the warm sun filtering in through her window. Her heart felt unbound for the first time in forever, as if she had been twined up tightly like a bobbin and only now was obliterating away the ropes.

She held a steaming mug of liquid energy in her hand by the time Scorpius appeared in the kitchen, looking just as disheveled as she did with his boxers riding low on his hips, body smudged with dirt, and hair standing on end, exposing the darker blonde layers underneath. He looked a little vacant as he stared in confusion at the coffee pot gurgling away.

"Good morning," Rose said softly, and a bit shyly. Scorpius seemed to finally register her sitting in the corner and quirked an eye at her before walking straight to her. She was barely able to squeak before he scooped the mug out of her hands and pushed her back in her chair as his hands went to her hair and his lips to hers. He was demanding and unyielding as he held her tightly, tilting her head upwards. He commanded all her attention and she gave it to him.

Morning snogs were the best way to wake up in the morning, she thought later as Scorpius was filling up his own coffee mug and pulling out food from the fridge. Avoid all awkwardness about the previous night.

"Did you have a good sleep last night?" he asked her once he was seated with breakfast before them both, and happily breathing in his own coffee. His face betrayed sign of knowing exactly what they did last night with his cocked eyebrow and a smug gleam in his eyes. The steam rose off the coffee in front of his face.

Rose dug into her food. "Despite what you may think," she said saucily. "I had a fantastic sleep. Best I've had in a long time."

He grinned. "Me as well. Much better than the couch I would say?"

Rose rolled her eyes and tried her best to hold back a smile. She mostly succeeded. It was inevitable that he was going to bug her about it. "Whatever. The couch was fine."

"But no more arguing about the couch when I have a perfectly comfortable bed upstairs?" He said it lightly with that gleam that didn't seem to leave his eyes, but the question had a deeper meaning and they both knew it. What was it exactly between them at this moment? What was she looking for? She really didn't know, but she couldn't deny this was what she needed right now. Just a release of duty and obligation. Moments of mind-numbing pleasure to utterly distract her mind and get her endorphins going – to make her heart happy and her body shiver. Anything else to do with the relationship, if it was a relationship, and defining the terms could all be figured out later, once her mess was over and if she was still alive.

You'll be around. It would be better to decide now than dissect the tangle of emotions and feelings later. It could be a huge mess and could cause a large rift if you are both on different pages, Marta suggested.

Why make promises and waste time on it when it can be focused on later? Live in these moments while you have them, said Greg.

There was so much that needed to be said, but the timing wasn't right and it was hard to voice what she wanted to say. Rose decided to keep the banter between them light, without making any promises one way or another or trying to clarify what was between them. Instead of answering, she flicked a piece of her toast over at him. "That couch could fit two, you know … " Her grin was suggestive and Scorpius let out a laugh.

"Why didn't I think of that in the first place?"

"Because I would have booted your arse off so fast you'd be in Canada before you could protest."

His feet found her legs under the table and hooked around them. Maintaining the skin contact was calming. And it warmed her to her core when he started running his foot up and down her leg. They finished their coffee and breakfast in no time at all, even after Rose helped herself to another two pieces of toast.

It was like they were both skirting the issue of Canwood, trying to delay it further and avoid the ludicrous search to just be normal in this newfound connection.

"Let's take the day off," Rose said spontaneously after dishes were done and put away. "Just not worry about all my problems and relax. Go to the park. Do whatever. Just for today – 12 hours. Ending at midnight. What say you?"

He didn't even think too hard about it. "I know a good café that's just around the corner that sells stellar coffee since we are down our last spoonful. And then we probably should pick up some food since we're pretty low. " He held up the empty coffee tin and made a horrified face at her. "Join me?"

Rose eyed him up as he stuck his head in the fridge and started making a grocery list. His wasn't wearing a shirt still, but just like her, he was still dirty from last night. "I can never say no to more coffee. But we're both too filthy to walk out of the flat. That basement was dirtier than I thought."

"I like when women call me filthy." He flashed his teeth at her.

She leaned her hip against the counter and laughed. "If you like being covered in dirt, by all means enjoy someone calling you that. Don't be surprised when I stop coming up to your bed at night."

He smirked. "You're rather dirty as well," he pointed out. "And I do have such trouble scrubbing my back in the shower."

"Oh you poor soul," she intoned. "Whatever will you do? How have you ever managed to scrub your back up until this moment?" He pulled his head out of the fridge and advanced towards her. The kitchen was small, and so Rose soon found herself backing out of it into the hallway, and then against a wall when she could back up no further. His hands were sitting on her hips, holding steady as he brought his body up to hers and leaned lightly against her. She felt warm as the butterflies started up in her stomach. Her hands rested on his bare forearms, fingers spread wide.

"Well, with much difficulty. Coming?" he breathed into her face, nudging their noses together as their eyes met. His pupils were dilated and he moved his hips against hers. She lightly kissed the tip of his nose and his eyes crinkled with his smile lines before pulling back and reaching for her hands to lace their fingers together.

It was amazing how much a break could do away with stress. Even her stipulation of only one day to forget her troubles with Canwood didn't make her tense up or feel like she was on the edge of a precipice. Being with Scorpius was just as easy as breathing at this point and she felt more relaxed than she could have believed. Being relaxed also might have had something to do with the massage he was gracing upon her, the massage that he willingly offered after they returned back to the flat. He had magnificent, strong, and capable hands, and her body felt like jelly beneath him. She groaned as he rubbed at a knot under her shoulder blade. This was bliss.

"Can you do this every day?" she asked. Her head was in her arms and her back was exposed to him as she lay on blankets. "This is better than the sex." She grinned to herself as his hands stopped.

"Excuse me?" He leaned down over her, next to her ear. "I recall you saying something different this morning." And then he bit her shoulder lightly. The smile didn't leave her face.

She tried not to let the shortening day dampen her spirits, for as much as she would like to avoid the world and all her problems, she couldn't live in this fairytale forever. So she tried to hold off all thoughts of negativity, even though it was difficult when his hands traced all her scars on her back. He was quick, making languid strokes and very gently touching her skin when he was on her shoulder. It was like he was trying to mask the brand that was carved into her – the raised scar tissue that was now a permanent part of her. She still noticed. That was probably the only moment she tensed underneath him – but his hands quickly got back to work, smoothing and rubbing her muscles and finding the knots that seemed to be ever prevalent. His lips would swoop down, peppering kisses at his whim, and goosebumps would rise all over her back, distracting her mind – and really, she wished the day would never end. She felt like Cinderella in the muggle fairy tale. Dreading the stroke of midnight when everything would return to its commonplace existence.

Late night supper involved take away, and going to the park to eat as they watched the last dredges of the sunset fade and the night sky take over as they huddled in the evening chill. It involved them walking hand in hand down and around the block and listening to some late night musicians playing on the street.

She felt like she was a teenager again, experiencing first love with her boyfriend (before he turned into the world's biggest git and she dumped gravy on his head). That had started out with glances across the classroom, deep conversations into the night, sneaky hand holding under the table. Even when she first met Danny, who had had such a physical presence back then, there were similarities. What this day was with Scorpius was both similar and unsimilar to everything she knew – a good mix of the emotional and physical. It was filled with the same sort of happiness as a newfound love – not that it was love by any means that she would admit to herself, but it still made her toes curl with actions as simple as a look. Everything seemed to seep away from her and fade into the background.

Merlin, she was a pansy.

They were back at the flat before midnight, releasing hands in case Al was around, because that would be a whole new can of worms opened that they didn't want to deal with. Yet, the flat was empty. Still.

Scorpius got the cutest little devil grin as he wandered around the flat. "Oh I'm going to tease him mercilessly when I finally see his face. He's hooking up with Avani. He has to be."

"Business partner, right?" asked Rose, as she pulled off her boots in the entrance.

"Oh yes indeed." Scorpius got a glint in his eye. "I'm going to take the piss out of him. This'll be great."

"Why?"

"We got into an argument a while back about it. He said he wasn't interested in her. I knew he was but he didn't want to admit it. So I was right."

She still didn't see what all the fuss was about, but let it pass.

"Remember in Fifth year? When Al got asked out by Melody Prichanko in the Great Hall? And he got so frazzled and nervous he vomited behind the Gryffindor bench." Scorpius chuckled at his own story and shook his head. "Little Al is all grown up."

"You don't know for sure yet," pointed out Rose. "He could just be doing late night running around or whatever."

"Oh. If he's not here – and hasn't been here for a few nights now – there is no other place he would be."

They stayed lounging around the couch, both of them sitting at different ends with legs stretched out to the center. Rose's eyes drifted over to the clock more often than not.

At the stroke of midnight she sighed heavily. "Alright, time. What were all the papers you found at the flat? Anything of importance? I suppose it's time to focus on Canwood again."

The grin on his face gradually faded. "I honestly haven't looked at them yet." He seemed a little repulsed by the idea but quickly masked it. "Shall we pull it out and get started on the hunt again?"

Hearing him voice it made that idea seem even more revolting than it was in her head. She glanced at the clock again. Maybe it was too late now anyway. It wouldn't be productive work.

You keep delaying and a week will have passed, scolded Marta.

Think of your mental health right now, said Greg. A few more hours of relaxing won't hurt anything.

Scorpius' long legs were stretched out alongside hers, keeping her warm on the chilly night. Choices. Choices. Her head was saying one thing, but her heart another.

When was the last time you listened to your heart?

Maybe just a few more hours. A few thrills ran through her at the thought of a few more hours without obligation or thinking of the blood bracelet. She pulled her legs up and then crawled over to sit on his lap, legs bent beside his hips. Automatically his hands were on her waist, fingers slipping under her sweater so he was touching her skin, thumbs pressing down hard as he centered her better over him. He had a smirk on his face which she was sure matched her own.

"What are the chances of Al coming home tonight?" she asked him. One of her hands reached up to trace the features on his face with her fingers. She passed along the contours of his cheek, over his nose, down to his lips. His lips parted and she could feel his breath on her fingers.

"I don't particularly care at this moment to think of Al." He closed his eyes to her ministrations as her fingers traced down his neck and over his collarbones. She kept her touch light, barely grazing his skin, alternating between the beds of her fingers and her nails. He shuddered beneath her.

She hummed. "Yes, but we don't really want to put on a show for him if he wanders in at some ridiculous hour, do we?"

"Fuck Al." His hands were kneading into her skin and slowly pulling her shirt up.

"No, he's my cousin."

His eyes shot open. "Ignore Al and fuck me."

She was already unbuttoning a few buttons on his shirt. "Since when are you the one with the potty mouth? I thought that was me?" She gave him a wry grin.

He shrugged. "You haven't been swearing as much. Might as well fill in the void."

"Well your bedroom talk leaves much to the imagination."

"You were the one saying that this couch fit two. We might as well test out that theory."

She could feel his chest vibrations on her hands with his low laugh. And more than anything, being able to be that close together with comfort made her heart swell. Just a laugh and that was all it took for her to drop all her worries. To let all her troubles fade once again to the background and disappear.

She finally leaned forwards to lightly bite at his lower lip, shifting her hips better into his, and pushed his shirt off his shoulders so his hands had to come off her. His arms were entrapped in the shirt behind him. She rested her forehead against his and looked into her eyes. His eyes darkened, and she used his locked arms to her advantage, running her hands down his chest to his trousers and undoing the button.

"Well, that wanker better not walk through the door or he'll get a fucking show then."

"You know it love."

Waking up in Scorpius' bed was a new experience that she couldn't get enough of. And couldn't wait to happen each morning.

Though, waking up and knowing that her happy little rendezvous was over now put a damper on her spirits as she crawled out of an empty bed and stretched. Her muscles were a little stiff, but not overtly so from her rather active day yesterday. It was time to get back to reality, so when she dressed, she donned her customary black, worn garments – feeling the colour parallel her mood.

What helped bring it up was the dazzling smile on Scorpius' face when she went to the kitchen. He had his backpack open and all the papers were spread over the table. A fresh pot of coffee was sitting there, waiting for her.

"You know me too well," she said happily. Once she had her mug and a full plate of breakfast she turned around. "What're you finding?"

"Names of a few different businesses and members. Names seem to reference different accounts at the bank. Then there's some tactical information - areas of target and people of target. Half of this is also potioneer jargon. I think Matild was experimenting with potions and ingredients, trying to come up with modifications to the veritaserum. These are all his inner thoughts." Scorpius frowned, his eyebrows knitting together suddenly.

"What?"

"This is all damning. I submit this as evidence and our whole department will switch forces and start to focus on more local, serious issues like Snakebitten."

She looked at him in surprise. "Why's that a bad thing?"

"Usually when that happens the top guns in the gang jump ship … And it would most likely mean I'm off the case and shuttled elsewhere, since I'm just a replaceable, disposable agent." He put his head in his hand and drummed his fingers against his cheek as he looked down at the papers, his eyes glum.

Silence. That wasn't good news to hear.

"Well you're not disposable and replaceable."

He chose to ignore her. "I don't know if Canwood is a top dog – likely not – but at this point it might cause more problems than help."

Rose sat down at the table a little harder than she meant to. She didn't feel hungry anymore.

"I don't know what to say," Rose said. This would be withholding evidence, if he didn't turn it in. Lives were being ruined, businesses ruined each day. And he would probably be fired for it. "You have to turn in the evidence."

He looked surprised by her response.

"Don't be ridiculous. I'm not turning in anything until Canwood is locked up wherever he needs to be to get that bloody bracelet off your wrist."

"Your job – "

He cut her off. "No. That is not at all a factor in this." She tried talking again but he would have none of it. His eyes were dark and he seemed agitated. "Don't go there and eat that damn breakfast. We're getting Canwood."

She was shocked into taking a few bites by his aggressive tone. He stared moodily at the table.

"Scorpius," she said gently. "I don't want your life to stay on hold for just me. I don't want you to lose your job."

He sighed. "Rose. This job is not a factor right now. It's convenient for my access to resources and the freedom of movement … but it's not something I'm going to stay with much longer after this."

She couldn't help but feel it had something to do with her predicament and voiced those thoughts.

"A little – but I can't stand being the lackey in the storm of Aurors," he said reluctantly at first, but then continued on strong despite his hesitation. "I haven't been enjoying it for some time – just haven't done anything about it. Doing the same routine day in and out because it's easy. Being indecisive and continuing on this path only because I just don't know what else to do. What else I'm good at."

"It's okay to not know what you want to do," said Rose. "And you're good at a lot of things. So maybe it'll just take some time."

"Being good at a lot of things doesn't mean I necessarily enjoy them though. I'm just good at them."

"You can use it as a basis for narrowing it down? Sometimes your path isn't what you expect it to be, or you don't know it exists yet." She gestured around her to the kitchen. "You probably won't find it here though, if you've been stuck in limbo for a long time."

Stop trying to influence him to follow you away from the country. You don't even know if you're looking for a long term relationship with him, said Marta.

Live for the wild side, voiced Greg in contempt.

"That's hard to do," he admitted. "Leave the familiar."

Voices be damned. Rose nodded. "The hardest step is usually the first one. Once you have some momentum then it can be easier. Not necessarily all the time though. Three steps forward, two steps back. That's what I always said to myself."

"What do you want to do with your life? After … " he gestured with his hand to the table with all the sheets.

"I have some ideas. Mostly on what I don't want to do." She ticked her list off on her fingers. "Work at the Ministry. Have a desk job. Work 9 to 5. Be inside all the time." She grinned at him. "As you can see, that limits me to some of the more unconventional things."

"I wouldn't say 'limits.'"

"Say that to my mum," she pointed out. "I think I'm just as in limbo as you. Thought I'd find something I'd been missing when I left home. But I really didn't – just temporary happiness and fulfillment. Moreso leaving gave me confidence, made me realise some hard truths and easy truths I'd been running from."

He looked thoughtful at her, his face less severe with worry.

"Admittedly," she continued, "it wasn't until I was back here and ran into you that I really had to face everything that I've been running from. That was harder than leaving in the first place. But necessary. Completely necessary. Part of my mind was always back here regardless of where I was or who I was with."

"And look where we are now," he said with a slight smile. "By day, talking like civilized persons. By night …"

He didn't finish the sentence, but her blush did – heating up her face.

"I'll have to think on what you said," he started. "It's not the main focus right now though. I can't really think beyond day by day or week by week when Canwood is still out there and our priority is to get the bloody shackle off your wrist."

At that, she quickly tucked her hands under the table. Her gut wrenched at hearing him say that about his life. He shouldn't have to put what he needed on hold.

"If you don't want to do this anymore, I understand and support you. It's a burden I don't want to put on anyone." Especially you.

His head was shaking. "No. Forget I said anything."

"But, if you're – "

"No!" His fist hit the table and he clenched and unclenched it, knuckles white. He took a few deep breaths and avoided her eyes. "I'm with you until the end, alright? I'm sorry I said what I said. My concerns are paltry and can be dealt with later. You just caught me in a reflective mood and I'm only worried about what the next step is. And what I know it should be."

Her heart was thumping loudly in her chest at what he said. Until the end. That made her both sad and very happy – relieved and scared. "What is the next step?" she finally asked, when it seemed that he wasn't going to respond.

"We're going to have to break into the Luminess bank."

"Break into Luminess bank? Didn't you say at one point to never ever enter? Pray tell me the reasons why you think this is a good idea?"

"It's not," he admitted. "Well, sort of. I don't know. But I'm positive there's a few vaults in there that contain the personal information of the gang. And then hopefully it'll give us the location of Canwood … That's what makes it worth breaking into the bank, at least for me."

Rose bit her lip. She didn't like the sound of that; it was the type of thing that could go wrong very easily. Breaking into a bank sounded exactly like her parents ventures. Not hers.

"We scout it out for a week, at the least," continued Scorpius. "I honestly don't care if I blow the bloody thing down once I get the info I need inside."

"That would probably attract some unwanted attention from the Ministry."

"Undoubtedly. Sometime you can't pick your battles, they come to you. And this is one I plan on finishing." His voice carried a dangerous edge.

At least they weren't breaking into the bank now, she told herself. Maybe something better would come up before then.

Walking through the old department store seemed like a dream. She had been here before, with the bright fluorescents above and the dingy wide aisles with cheap clothes. It seemed so long ago already.

The older gentlemen who was named Matthias, as far as Rose could remember, was still sitting in the room as if he had never left. His clothing was even the same; he was wearing jean overalls and a flannel shirt. The scent of coffee hung in the air.

"Evening Scorpius," he said. His bushy white beard was longer than ever. "Evening Rose."

"Evening Matthias," replied Scorpius. He looked at her. She was taken aback by the fact that he knew her name still. Must not get many visitors.

"Evening Matthias."

Matthias lifted his cane and brought it down with a smack. The door leading to the attic opened behind him.

The room was still tiny and they stayed huddled around the window that was pointing to Luminess Bank. Scorpius pulled out some dusty blueprints that were in one of the corners. "These blueprints are old. But should give us the basic layout," said Scorpius. "I think before we make any sort of plan, we'll need to keep watch. Then make a move. We need to know a little more about the daily happenings."

The bank was as busy as ever as Rose looked through the omnioculars. Though now her mind was thinking 'break in' she was noticing the few guards standing outside and inside. And the security desk. Not to mention any discrete warding spells and hidden muggle cameras around.

Rose couldn't help but wonder if he found something in the documents that he wasn't mentioning as she flicked through the papers he had managed to save two nights ago and tried to glean some secrets from the blueprints. It seemed he had more thoughts he wasn't sharing by his brooding look out the window – staring as the trees swayed and the sun shifted positions from mid-morning to midday. He had a notebook out and jotted the odd thing down. It was rather boring, if Rose was being honest. There was nothing they could hear, and Scorpius wasn't talking much of his thoughts.

Do you really need two people here to watch? Marta said. There's not much happening right now.

It's almost a waste of time, said Greg. Especially when time is precious.

Which were both good points.

"So here's an idea." Scorpius glanced her way. "While you're here scouting out, I think it would be more useful if we split up to cover two locations. Remember when you showed me that secret floor above Coffee for Kooks? Maybe I'll spend a few days there this week while you're scouting for bank stuff just to see if I can hear anything. You can fill me in on what you learn, and vice versa."

He turned his brooding from the window towards her. His eyes looked conflicted. "That's a good idea," he said hesitantly. "As much as I don't like splitting up. Do you remember how to get in?"

"Vaguely. Might need a quick reminder."

"We'll stop there before we head home and I'll show you."

Home. He said it so casually that Rose almost missed it. She hadn't felt like she belonged anywhere for the longest time. She put a hand over her mouth to hide her smile from him.

They planned out the week on paper, setting a schedule where they both kept watch at the two different locations. Scorpius spent most of the rest of the afternoon staring at the omnioculars. They discussed blueprints a bit and possible access entry points. Rebecca Box was in her office for most of the day and they observed her very carefully – as her office was one of the places they were going to infiltrate.

This happened until there was a light knock on the door while Rose was once again going through the papers in the backpack, laying on the floor. Scorpius didn't seem to hear so Rose opened the door, unsure if she had actually heard a knock or not. Yet it was Matthais and he held out a white envelope for her to take. Without speaking a word, he went back down the stairs.

The letter had Scorpius' name on it and so Rose nudged his shoulder when she sat beside him once again.

"You have a letter," she said when Scorpius looked up at her with a question in his eyes. "Matthais knocked on the door."

Instantly Scorpius became alert and held out his hand. He opened the envelope and scanned through the letter. His eyebrows knit together and he looked up at Rose in shock.

"Louis is in jail … he was arrested last night."

A/N: Dear Readers, thank you so much for tagging along this whirlwind of a story over the past few years (especially among my rather sporadic updates). Unfortunately I am embarking on a world trip very shortly, so my sporadic updates will become even further spaced out (!) And I'm also not taking my laptop - so I have the shitty task of trying to write on my phone which is going to go along very shittingly I am sure haha. I will have a notebook so at the very least I will write out my chapters by hand and then have to upload when I'm back. Either one I'm sure is going to suck for all of you. :) But have a good day, a great week, and a fantastic year wherever you are! xox