Author's Notes: Thank you to all of my dear readers and reviewers! There's a short scene of a sexual nature between two people that you probably haven't anticipated here! LOL! Enjoy!

Chapter Nineteen

The only thing on Lily's mind ever since Grandma Molly had told her that she was pregnant, was to find a way to tell Scorpius about the baby. She thought she could ask him to take her to St Mungo's and then stare at his face as Healer Pye announced the pregnancy to him. Or she could have asked Taffy to make all those baby things – baby carrots, baby corn, baby whatever… – and see if he understood why they were having all that baby food.

But she couldn't wait until the following day. She was burning with desire to see his face and have his hands on her tummy, and so, the moment they came back from the Burrow, she hastily wore her pyjamas and lay down on the bed, her eyes sparkling as they followed Scorpius getting undressed and brushing his hair and wearing his own pyjamas bottoms.

He raised the covers and lay down next to her. "Well, that was a nice dinner," he commented, wrapping his arm around her. "I don't know why your grandmother was giggling so uncontrollably when your mother announced that she was going home a bit earlier, though. They looked like they were under a Tickling Charm or—"

"We need to check carefully the first floor of the house in Wales, Scorpius," she told him, leaning her chin against his chest, "and make sure that it has a nice nursery."

He nodded thoughtfully. "Well, if it doesn't, I could build a nice nursery too, you know," he replied, "I mean, just like we want it. I have skills, I mean, manual skills, I'm not just good-looking…"

She giggled. "But you have to hurry up," she let him know, "you know, have it ready before October."

He chuckled. "Oh, but Lily, the nursery is going to be inside, it's not like I'm going to get a cold if I work all winter on it."

"No, but we need it before October," she pointed out.

He nodded again. "We do, don't we?" he asked softly, closing his eyes as a smile spread his lips. A fistful of seconds passed before he opened them again and looked down at her. "What do you mean we need it before October?" he asked her.

She grinned, a happy giggle suddenly leaving her lips.

He tilted his head back, his expression serious. "Lily, what do you mean?" he asked a bit breathlessly.

She giggled a bit more.

"You mean… you don't mean… do you mean…"

She nodded and yet again a river of giggles left her lips.

Scorpius' eyes widened as he sat up and turned to look at her. "You're pregnant," he let out suddenly.

She nodded again as she draped herself around him and kissed him. "Grandma Molly says that it's a boy," she told him against his lips.

"Wow," was all he could say. "Wow! You're having a baby! We're… we're having a baby! That is… that's awesome!"

She giggled again. "It is awesome," she agreed. "I'm so happy…"

He hugged her tightly and slid with her under the covers once again, his hand worming its way on her belly. He slipped under her pyjamas and brushed his thumb against her smooth skin. "Wow…" he said again. "Just… wow."

"Are you happy?" she asked him softly.

"Yes," he replied, laughing in excitement. "Yes, I'm happy…" He kissed her again and Lily smiled against his lips. "Merlin's beard… yes, I'm happy…"

oooOOOooo

"Harry, sit down," said Ginny, patting his shoulders and guiding him to his old, battered armchair near the fireplace.

He let her push him down, even though his eyes wandered from his wife to his daughter to Scorpius Malfoy as he frowned slightly. "I'd really like to take off my cloak first," he said tentatively, "whatever it is, can it wait like five seconds?"

Ginny shook her head as she sat opposite to him. "Lily went to St Mungo's this morning," she told him softly.

Harry's fingers tightened around the armrests. "St Mungo's?" he asked, his voice tense. "Why? What happened? Are you alright?"

Lily shrugged a shoulder, her teeth gnawing her bottom lip as she leaned against Scorpius. "You know I've been kind of sickish, Daddy," she told him slowly.

"Yes, yes, Lily," he told her. "Oh dear, are you alright? What did they say?" He could feel his heart speed up in his chest. What was wrong with his daughter?

"Well…" she said, "they said I'm pregnant…" She accompanied that statement with a bright smile as her hand sneaked around Scorpius' waist. "It's a boy! It's due in October! Isn't it great?"

"You're pregnant?" Harry rasped out, his jaw dropping.

She nodded and grinned, bouncing on the balls of her feet like a child. No, like someone who was having a child. "Isn't that awesome?"

"You're going to becoming a grandpa," Ginny whispered to him.

"Blimey," was all he could gasp out. "You're pregnant. Lily, my… my dear, you're pregnant!" He turned his attention towards Scorpius and darkened slightly. "You… you got my daughter pregnant…"

Lily stepped in front of Scorpius. "Yes," she replied, "but Daddy, it was planned."

"Was it?" asked Harry. They weren't even married yet, had they planned to have a child when they didn't even own a house? How irresponsible of them!

Lily shrugged a shoulder and gave him a sheepish smile. "No, it wasn't," she admitted, "but we're excited. I can't wait, honestly, Daddy. I can't wait!"

"I… I…" He looked from Scorpius' slightly nervous face to Lily's ecstatic one and finally to Ginny's encouraging smile. He sighed and looked back at his daughter with a soft smile. "If you're happy, dear, I'm happy too."

Lily was happy. When she hugged him and when she kissed his cheeks and when she guided his hand on her still flat belly and when she told him that she couldn't wait to meet her son.

And, yes, Harry was happy too.

oooOOOooo

Scorpius ducked as the hex hit the wall behind him.

"You got my sister pregnant!" snarled Albus.

Scorpius raised a hand to try to calm him down, but another hex fired from the tip of Albus' wand and he had to duck again. "In my defence," he said from behind the chair where he was crouching, "we're getting married in two months."

"That's not an excuse!" snapped his Auror partner. "And you're not a virgin anymore! What about the Orchid? What if we needed someone pure to pass another task like that?"

"Well, you wanted me to stay a virgin for my entire life?" he grunted. "And scream a little louder, will you? I don't think they've heard you down at the Department of Mysteries…"

Albus snorted and lowered his wand. "I might forgive you for having had sex with my sister if you're going to name your firstborn after me," he let him know softly.

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right, Albus… No!" he spluttered. "You're already my best man. I think I won't feel too bad if I don't name my child after you."

Albus stared at him. "I'll be his godfather, then?"

Scorpius muttered a curse under his breath, something that he had to remind himself not to do in front of Lily or his future child. "Lily said that since you're already my best man, James should be the godfather," he replied, vaguely blaming his fiancée for any unhappiness this may cause to Albus. "And Victoire should be the godmother."

"Right, whatever," muttered Albus bitterly, "I'll have to change my speech now. Take out all the parts about you being a virgin."

Scorpius gritted his teeth. "What? Why would you… I'm going to kill you."

"People want to laugh, Scorpius," protested Albus, "they don't want to hear an aww-inducing piece of fluff about how you were the right person for Lily and vice versa. They know the story already, they want to laugh."

"Laugh at me?"

Albus shrugged a shoulder. "Maybe."

"I'm going to kill you," he repeated, before throwing himself at his future brother-in-law.

oooOOOooo

June arrived far quicker than both Lily and Scorpius had expected, and with it the day of the wedding.

Lily's dress had to be redesigned to hide her baby bump, not that at four months it was too visible at all, but she was small and therefore as soon as summer approached and she had to abandon her sweaters for the flimsier sun dresses and tee-shirts, the fact that her belly was rounding more and more was the first thing that caught people's eyes.

And they didn't want to keep it secret – blimey! All of Lily's family already knew, and that was probably half of the Wizarding community in Great Britain anyway – but somehow they wanted to protect the little life that they had created from prying eyes.

"Merlin, it's tight again!" complained Lily from in front of the mirror. "Muuum!"

Her mother hurried into Victoire's old room and looked at her as she tried to loosen the dress a little around her waist. Rose was making Taffy levitating around the bride's head to fix her hair and her makeup at the same time, and Rose herself was using one hand to spread some Sleekeazy's Hair Potion in her hair.

"What?" asked her mother concerned.

"The dress," sighed Lily, "it's tight again."

"Tighter than last night?" asked her mother in disbelief.

Lily nodded and pouted. "I knew I shouldn't have eaten all that pasta that Grandma made," she sighed.

"Oh, not to worry dear," replied her mother, a smile on her face and half of the hair rollers still in her hair, "Madam Malkin gave me just the right spell." She waved her hand and suddenly the dress fit nicely once again. "Better?" she asked gently.

"Much, much better," she assured as she finally could breathe again. She brought a hand to her stomach to rub it gently as she had taken to do in the past weeks.

"Everything alright, Rosie?" asked her mother.

Rose looked at her, blue eyes wide. "I'm more nervous than Lily," she whined, "but after all she doesn't have to walk down the aisle, and very probably stumble at some point, and even more probably fall face first into the sand in front of her ex-boyfriend."

"Aww, Rose," beamed Lily. "You'll be beautiful and Emeric will just sit there and turn all green because he left you."

She smiled at her. "Thank you, Lily," she replied, "come on now, let's get ready for your big day…"

oooOOOooo

"I need to throw up."

"Are you pregnant as well?"

"Shut up, Al," groaned Scorpius.

Albus glanced at James, before returning his gaze to Scorpius. "Just think about leaving my sister at the altar now and I'll hex your head bald."

"I don't want to leave your sister at the altar," he snapped, struggling with the knot of his tie. "I'm just starting to think that we should have eloped. That's all."

"Oh yes, and then not only my mother would have killed you, but I think my father would have sent you to Azkaban," snorted James, "maybe not in that order."

Scorpius took a deep breath and shook his head, his fingers fidgeting with his tie, until he let out a frustrated groan and looked like he was going to strangle himself.

Albus shook his head as well. He walked to him and pushed his hands away from the necktie. "Listen," he started, untying the tie, "I'm no wedding expert. And if I'd known that you'd have been this nervous on the day of your wedding, I would have suggested you had Teddy as your best man."

"I was going to—"

"Shush," he cut him off, "too late for that, you're stuck with me now. Listen, you love the girl, the girl loves you. You got her pregnant. You already bought the house – and, by the way, I hope the guest room you promised me is ready—"

"We didn't promise you any—"

"What I'm trying to say, Scorpius, is that there's no reason for you to be nervous," he told him, finally fastening the tie in the right way. "Everybody loves you, and we can't wait for you to be part of the family and share our surname."

"Hey! It's Lily who's going to—"

"Good," said Albus, smoothing Scorpius' shirt, "I'll see you out there, then. Don't be late."

He walked out and closed the door at his back.

"Unbelievable," muttered Scorpius.

James chuckled. "That's the wisest he gets, you should be honoured, he usually never talks like that."

Scorpius nodded grimly as he wore his trousers and fastened them around his waist.

"Ready?" asked James.

The groom took a deep breath as he looked at his pale reflection in the mirror. "Ready."

oooOOOooo

Lily was gorgeous, and Scorpius didn't have a heart attack, but he was surely in awe as he looked at her walking down that red carpet on the beach of Tinworth in Cornwall.

Ginevra was crying and her mother was sobbing as well. Lily's father's eyes were all wet with tears, but he seemed to do his best to keep them from spilling over the corners.

Draco was looking all proud at his son, his hand searched Astoria's every now and then and then it was squeezed hers when something important happened: the rings, the vows, the kiss. Astoria almost wanted to kiss her husband as well, but he didn't even notice when she snuggled closer to him. "Our son is so handsome," she whispered, trying to attract his attention.

"He most certainly is," replied Draco, without looking at her.

"And our daughter-in-law as well," she added.

He nodded. "She most certainly is too," he agreed.

Astoria had to admit that a wedding at the beach was fairly picturesque. Of course, the sand was a bit of a nuisance, but the youngsters seemed to like to take off their pretty shoes and dance near the sea as the music of the Weird Sisters blasted off some old radio, and the children were most happy to scream and run and play with whatever adult was patient enough to pay heed to them.

The banquet too was pretty decent and the entertainment with the Weasley whatever-they-were-called fireworks made everybody look up in awe, young and old. But the thing that Astoria approved the most, apart from Lily, was the tall pile of presents that had been placed over a table at the entrance of the tent they had raised on the beach.

"Astoria," said Ginevra as she perused the presents, "wonderful ceremony, wasn't it?"

"Absolutely," she replied with a smile. "So Scorpius and Lily are moving into their house tonight, aren't they?"

"Yes, they are," she said, tugging a lock of hair behind her ear.

"And you're moving in… when again?"

"Tomorrow, so that I can get most of the stuff ready for when they come back from the honeymoon," she replied nonchalantly. "When were you thinking?"

"Hmm, right after the honeymoon, but I wouldn't mind to keep you company if you're there all alone," she replied.

She smiled at her. "Sounds perfect."

"Do they know it?"

Ginevra laughed nervously. "Oh no, it's a surprise," she told her, "another wedding gift."

Astoria nodded and giggled. "I can't wait to see their faces."

oooOOOooo

Scorpius leaned forward towards Lily and placed a hand on her belly. "Are you okay?"

She nodded, bringing her second piece of wedding cake to her mouth. "I'm more than okay," she replied gently. "I'm happy and tired."

"Tired? Tired is not good," said Scorpius, furrowing his brow. "Do you want to lie down a little?"

She shook her head. "Nope, I want to dance again with you," she let him know, stretching her naked foot to caress his shin.

He chuckled and leaned back against the back of the chair. "Later," he replied, "when you've rested a little." He turned to look at the pile of presents next to them and pursed his lips. "Where are we going to put all these things?" He grabbed a big, heavy package and shook it a little in his hands.

"Scorpius! What if it's fragile?" exclaimed Lily, eyes going wide.

He sighed and read the card on the top. "To Lily and Scorpius, may your life be even sweeter with this incredibly useful bowl that will make ice-cream appear every time you tap it with your wand. Aunt Muriel." He looked at Lily and snorted, "She just spoiled the present for us."

Lily giggled. "She's so sweet."

"Honestly, I think she's a bit on the crazy side…"

Lily grabbed a present herself, a tall cylinder with something that shifted on inside. "Seems like something made of glass," she sentenced, "hmm… from Aunt Daphne."

Scorpius shook his head. "Surely it's something extremely expensive and absolutely useless," he told her, "why can't they just give us… I don't know… small things that are easy to carry and that won't take us years to decide where to put? Like this one." He grasped a little golden box the size of a Chocolate Frog Card. "This is perfect and light," he sentenced. "Let me see who's the intelligent person that we'll have to invite over for dinner… To Lily and Scorpius, may this present bring you lots of happy memories, Maestro…" His voice trailed away as he made sense of the words. Maestro. The Maestro?

Was that… but that was not possible. The Orchid had rolled down into the depths of the earth. That couldn't have been… the flower was destroyed. It was gone. Forever. He had seen it.

But now that Scorpius thought about it, he hadn't see it roll anywhere at all. In all fairness, he had been too busy grasping Charlie's arms and pull himself up and then kissing Lily and then finally noticing that he hadn't died, to care for the plant at that moment.

He raised his eyes on his wife, she was looking back at him with her lips parted in surprise. She had placed the empty plate somewhere and now she was rubbing her fingers over the swell of her stomach. "Scorpius…" she breathed.

He swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry. Merlin! What if it was just a card expressing the Maestro's gratitude for having helped the Order that night? But come on, a card didn't need a box.

He started working on the bow at the top, pulling at the ribbon that kept it together. Bloody hell, his heart was racing now.

He dug his nails under the edge of the lid and took a deep breath before opening it that much needed for him to look inside without any prying eyes noticing that they were opening a present already.

He took a sharp breath and closed it again, looking up at Lily. He opened his mouth, but then he was unable to say anything, and so he just nodded.

Lily's hand flew to her mouth, her eyes shone with tears. She swallowed hard and stood up. "Let's go," she murmured.

"Where?" asked Scorpius as she grasped his wrist.

"To say thank you," she whispered, before guiding him away.

oooOOOooo

"This doesn't change anything," panted Rose. "I still hate you."

"Shite, Rosie," hissed Emeric against her neck, "not now." He bit her skin as pushed up her dress. "You look so hot."

She tried to grab the basin behind her, but he withdrew and grasped her hips, turning her around and pushing her face mercilessly against the mirror. She felt him slide his hand down her buttock as his mouth found her ear. "Bloody hell, why did you never dress like this for me once?" he grunted.

She didn't reply, but groaned as he pushed her knickers aside and pushed a finger between her dripping folds.

"God, you're wet…"

"Stop talking, Merlin!" snapped Rose, pushing back against his hand. "People are gonna need the bathroom at some point."

He chuckled in her ear. "Good point," he replied.

She heard him undo his belt and before she could even turn to have a look at him he was already pushing into her. She groaned again, her breath steaming up the mirror. "Blimey," she muttered.

"Damn, I forgot how good you felt," he moaned. "So good…" Then he stopped talking and he started thrusting into her, until the edge of the basin dug into her hipbones and her hands slid down the mirror.

He was grunting like an animal, and Merlin! did it turn her on. He circled his hand around her hip and found her clit with his finger. He pushed and rubbed it. She gnawed on her bottom lip as she came, squeezing him and dragging him over the edge with her.

He leaned his forehead against her shoulder blade, panting hard and tickling her skin. "I love you," he murmured, kissing her back.

She rolled her eyes and tried to wriggle free, but his arms tightened around her. "Get off," she whispered harshly.

"Hmm… marry me, Rose…"

"Are you drunk?" she snapped. "Get off me and go f—"

"Rosie? Are you in there?" asked her father from the other side of the door. "I need the loo real quick. I kind of had too much Butterbeer."

"Almost done, Da-aad," she half cried as Emeric thrust his flaccid member into her.

"Are you okay?"

She elbowed him hard in the ribs and he had to bite down on his lip until he drew blood to stifle a groan.

"Peachy," she replied lightly, pushing down her dress, "I'll be right there." She turned to look at Emeric. "You better Disapparate," she told him coldly, "unless you want your boss to kill you."

He grasped her wrist and pulled her to him. "Will you go out with me on Saturday?"

"No," she replied curtly, stepping with her heel on his toe. "I still hate you."

He cursed, but she heard the pop of Disapparition before she could turn and open the door.

oooOOOooo

"I think you've had enough cake," sentenced Hannah, hands on her hips. "I thought you were on diet, Neville."

"From Monday…"

"You said that last Sunday," she sighed.

"Well, I didn't say which Monday…" he chuckled. "But this cake is mind-blowing, Hannah, you need to ask Ginny the recipe, for the inn you know…"

"It's a wedding cake, Neville, I don't think it would fit anywhere in the menu," she pointed out.

"Then we need to start hosting weddings…"

She shook her head again, but she was smiling and Neville knew that he had just earned himself a third piece of cake…

"Oh, Lily! Scorpius! What a lovely ceremony!" sighed Hannah. "And look at you, Lily, you're radiant! Absolutely glowing." Neville turned just in time to see his wife's hand going to her belly. "And how's the baby doing?"

"He's fine," replied Lily with a grin, "growing every day more, and absolutely fine."

"Good to hear that," she replied gently.

"Mrs Longbottom," said Scorpius, "would you mind if I took a picture with you? It's just that we're trying to take as many pictures as possible with the guests, and… I'm not quite sure we've got one with you."

"Oh!" exclaimed Hannah, cheerfully. "That's so nice. I'll be happy to. With Lily as well, maybe?"

"I'll be right there," Lily assured her, "just give me a second to rest." She rubbed her stomach and smiled.

"Of course! How insensitive of me!" she smiled and followed Scorpius towards the beach, her red dress fluttering in the wind.

"Neville," Lily called him gently.

He smiled at her, swallowing the last piece of cake. "Yes, my dear," he replied, "Hannah is right, such a lovely ceremony, and you look radiant."

She nodded. "Thank you for the present."

He waved a hand in front of her. "Oh, well, you have to thank Hannah for it. I mean, I wouldn't know much about cookbooks and stuff, right?" he chuckled.

She shook her head. "No, not that present," she murmured. "The other one."

Neville placed the half-finished cake on a nearby table, glaring at the house-elf who was about to take it away. "The other one?" he asked gingerly.

She nodded. "It's the thing we wanted the most," she confessed.

He pressed his lips together in a thin line. "Lily, I think you're confusing me with someone else," he said softly.

She placed a hand on his arm and stood on tiptoes as he bent his back a bit. She kissed his cheek lightly and whispered, "Thank you, Maestro."

He grasped her hand, before she could move away. "I think you'll have to thank your Uncle Charlie as well," he whispered, winking at her.

And her smile was all the reassurance Neville needed to know that the Maestro had done well to break the rules for once.

oooOOOooo

Nobody would have found them at the top of hill behind Shell Cottage. The last guests were drinking and talking and laughing around the bonfires on the beach, and they weren't looking for them.

Lily closed her eyes and opened her mouth.

The petal tasted sweet and the Morning Dew was fresh.

She swallowed and leaned her head against Scorpius' shoulder, her legs shifting slightly in his lap.

"You okay?" he asked softly.

She nodded, then she sagged against him and everything went black.

oooOOOooo

Scorpius' mother-in-law was laughing and chatting out loud. She had probably had a bit too much wine. Like everybody. Well, everybody except Lily and Scorpius.

She was tightening a shawl around her naked shoulders, her cheeks were lit by the flames of the fire in front of her. Rose's mother was standing next to her, touching her arm every now and then and pointing at someone and nodding and sipping from a warm Butterbeer.

Lily's whole family and Scorpius' smaller one were all there. Feet in the sand and breeze on their faces.

Lily squeezed Scorpius' hand and raised her eyes to look at him. Her cheeks too were nice and rosy, much better than a few minutes before when she had just fainted in his arms. Or when she had woken up and cried over his shoulder at the memory of the day that she had been taken away from her Grandmother's house.

He nodded at his wife and stopped a bit behind her. Lily, instead, walked towards her mother and when Mrs Potter saw her daughter, she smiled and went to her, her arms wrapping around her shoulders and dragging her closer to the fire.

"Lily, darling, are you alright? Aren't you cold? And tired? Come closer to the fire, dear…"

Lily let her mother rub her upper arms as she turned to look at her.

Even in the dark, Scorpius could see Lily's shining eyes. He held his breath and stepped closer to the bonfire as well.

"Mum," she murmured.

"Yes, dear?" she replied, tilting her head back to look down at her.

"I'm sorry," she told her.

Her mother glanced at Rose's mother and let out a little chuckle, before turning to look at Lily. "You're sorry for what, dear?" she asked. "Nothing to be sorry about on your special day."

She wetted her lips. "I'm sorry I said that I hated you."

Her mother furrowed her brow a little. Now everybody was looking at them. "When would you have done that, Lily?"

"When you didn't let me ride your broom."

Mrs Potter's arm slid from her shoulders as she looked at her. "Lily…" she whispered.

"I know I was just nine," she continued, "but… you were just concerned. Now I know, I would never let my child ride a broom at nine."

There was an eerie silence that descended like a blanket over the last people that were still there, the cracking of the fire could be heard as if they were fireworks now.

Mrs Potter searched for her husband with her eyes, but he was looking at Lily as well. Everybody was.

"It wasn't Al who ate all the biscuits on Boxing Day the year before James left for Hogwarts," she told her, "I did. I was just really good at hiding the fact I had a really bad stomach-ache the following day."

Lily's mother was crying now. Silently, and with her eyes wide and her bottom lip trembling. At that moment, the only thing moving were the flames of the bonfire. Even the breeze had stopped.

"I love you, Mum…"

Lily hugged her, but Mrs Potter was speechless. She hugged her back, and just started to properly sob, big, wet tears falling on Lily's hair. And then her father hugged her from behind, sandwiching her between the two of them. And then James and Albus joined and… Merlin! That was a big hug and Scorpius just hoped that his son was alright.

Charlie came to stand next to him as people finally found their voice and went to talk to Lily in wonder because of the miracle that had just happened.

Scorpius looked up at him and he looked back and nodded, a small smile on his sunburned lips.

"Thank you," murmured Scorpius.

He shrugged a shoulder. "Didn't do anything."

"That's not what Neville said."

He took a deep breath and finally smiled properly. "Well, if the Maestro said it…"

Scorpius nodded and his eyes wandered back to Lily.

And everything was perfect now.

Author's Notes: Hope you enjoyed this chapter. There was a bit of everybody there. I think it could be improved, but I'm not sure exactly how yet, so it'll stay like that until I enlist the help of a beta to go through "Scarlet" and this story. Next chapter is going to be the Epilogue and it's short and sweet and fun and very different from all these chapters. I love it and I hope you'll like it too! Ta ta for now.