Rose hugged him. She pressed close, pulling him into her warmth. Scorpius didn't know if she was trying to make him feel better about Edgar or responding to him saying that loving her had changed him. It didn't matter. It was exactly what he needed.

She sighed.

He knew what was coming and made a counter move. He wrapped his arms around her a little tighter and lifted as he stepped backwards.

"What are you doing?" Rose asked.

"I call it a hug carry." Scorpius glanced over his shoulder to make sure he wasn't going to run into anything. Soot and water streaked the corridor walls. She hadn't only blasted the door to the guest room. The framing around the door was jagged and splintered. He looked down at Rose. "You weren't having me on about the fire and water damage."

Her expression was a blend of pride and apology. "Can Stevens help you fix it? I'd hate for our row to end up as a story in The Intruder."

"If he can't, I'll have the carpenter sign a non-disclosure agreement."

Abruptly, she seemed to float in his arms. Scorpius asked, "Why did you cast a Featherlight Charm?"

"You were slowing down. I thought I was getting heavy."

"I was admiring your demolition work." He lifted her up for a kiss and then took a step forward, dipping her backwards until her hair swept the floor before raising her up again. "The last time I tried that, I was nine and dropped my dance instructor." He smirked as he pinned Rose to the wall. "She claimed I did it on purpose and refused to teach me again."

Rose wrapped her legs around his waist. "Did you?"

He said, "I liked ballroom dancing as much as I cared for wearing green velvet dress robes and singing for Grandmother Narcissa's friends."

"So you loved it."

The naughty gleam in her eyes was enough warning for Scorpius to brace himself and not become off-balanced when Rose silently countered the Featherlight Charm. She narrowed her eyes. Her weight abruptly doubled. He staggered into the bedroom and fell with her onto the bed. "I think you broke it."

"Your back?" She pushed him onto his stomach and pulled up his shirt. Her fingers alternated between stroking his skin and prodding it.

"Up a little," he said. "In the middle."

"It hurts?"

"Itches. The bed frame is what might be broken."

She pinched him instead of scratching. "Distraction only postpones talking, you know."

He rolled onto his side. "Unless the distraction is so spectacular neither of us wants to talk." Rose, kneeling on the duvet cover, skirt of her sundress riding up, inspired several ideas.

She captured his hand before his fingers did more than graze the inside of her thigh. "You said loving me changed you."

"It has."

Rose lifted his hand and kissed it. "No, it hasn't. It just made you stop hiding who you really are. Not from the world—" she said when he started to open his mouth. "I'm not talking about the Slytherin pride you put on like the Green Knight costume."

"That's real," he said. "It's a part of me I don't always like, but it will always exist, and I'll use it when I have to."

"I meant that you've stopped hiding who you are from the people you care about." Her eyes were shiny. She gripped his hand like she was trying to give support even as she told an unpleasant truth. "And so has Edgar."

"No." The denial was hollow, something he could no longer convince himself to believe.

I knew my best mate was still there.

Edgar wanted a best mate who attacked and kept attacking to prove his strength, a brother Knight of Walpurgis.

Scorpius wanted a best mate who didn't believe in pure-blood supremacy, a best mate who fell in love with a werewolf and protected her from his father on the island where Gregory Goyle and his cronies played a murderous game.

Neither of them got everything they wanted.

"He isn't all bad," Scorpius said. He laughed shortly. "Just like Grandfather Lucius, although I never had any illusions about Grandfather's beliefs." He tried to say lightly, "Do you suppose Teryn is telling Edgar, 'He isn't all good'?"

"I don't think they talk like we do," Rose said. "I'm so sorry."

Scorpius didn't pretend that she was referring to Teryn and Edgar's lack of open and honest communication. "I'm not giving up on him. He uses the Knights for business connections. He isn't part of the inner circle."

Rose didn't say, "Yet," but he could see the word trembling on her lips.

Felix whimpered at the Niffler door.

Scorpius sat up. He and Rose went to see what was on the terrace. They discovered a brown owl perched on the back of a chair. It had an official looking message case attached to its leg.

"The Owl Post Office isn't open," Rose said.

"Someone is unaware of that, or thinks we don't know." He unbuckled the clasps on the case and removed the parchment scroll. The owl launched itself into the air. "The sender told the owl to leave without waiting for an answer."

"Or a treat."

Scorpius unrolled the parchment. "It's from Teryn." He handed it to Rose.

"Don't you want to read it?"

"I know what it says. She forgot she's scheduled to work late tomorrow and can't go to dinner."

Rose read the note. "She also says she's very sorry."

"Teryn added that," Scorpius said. "The rest is Edgar."

"He forced her to write it?"

"Persuaded."

Rose made a face. "I don't want to imagine how."

Neither did Scorpius. "He probably only had to ask."

"Teryn does seem to do anything Edgar wants." Rose put a hand on her hip when Scorpius's lips curved. "I'd bore you to tears if I was that kind of girlfriend."

"Partner, and I was thinking that in certain areas, I'm happy to do anything you want."

"Oh." For a moment, she looked like she might be willing to take him up on that offer, but then she shook her head slightly—probably telling herself not to be distracted—and said, "What are we going to do about it?"

He asked, "What do you want to do about it?"

Her eyes flashed like blue lightning. "I want to take Teryn out to dinner and show Edgar he can't control her!"

"Then let's do it." He moved to the lounger and patted the cushion beside him. "We can watch Antares while we plot." He whistled and Felix ran over and jumped onto his lap. "Pet Felix. I've been told it reduces stress."

Rose tried not to smile, and like a pout, it made her lips purse in a way that made him want to kiss her. Scorpius shelved that thought for later and put Felix on her lap when she stretched out beside him. While she petted the Niffler, he watched Antares pop his head up from his burrow. "I have an idea."

"You want to wait until Teryn pops her head out of her burrow, hit her with a Confundus Charm and remind her that we're having dinner?"

"Something less bold." Although he admired Rose's willingness to use any means to achieve her goal. "You owl George and ask when Teryn's shift ends, and we'll arrive at the shop before that and persuade her to go to dinner."

"Persuade her, how? With your Slytherin charm?"

"I appreciate the compliment, but no. We'll persuade her with the one thing she can't resist."

Rose smiled. "Felix."

.

George owled that Teryn had asked to switch to a later shift, so she was staying until the shop closed at eight o'clock. Scorpius and Rose met at the flat after work, changed clothes, and took Felix to play in a Muggle park before strolling down Diagon Alley and entering Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes at ten before eight.

"Whatever your dog breaks, you buy!" George called out. He resumed selling a box of Canary Creams to a customer.

Teryn rushed up to them. "You brought Felix to see me! That was so nice of you!" She looked more mature in her employee attire of Gryffindor red collared shirt embroidered with the WWW logo and black trousers than she had in a dressing gown. Her delight over seeing Felix was the same. "Hello, sweetie!"

"We took him to the park nearby and thought since we haven't had dinner yet, we'd stop in and ask you to join us," Rose said. She took off Felix's Appearance Charm collar.

"There's a new restaurant, Panis, across from Gringott's that we want to try," Scorpius said. "I read they have terrace seating, and a grilled miso & tamarind steak that's browned on the sides and bright red in the middle."

Teryn sucked in a breath at the mention of steak. Werewolves were the ultimate carnivores.

"I prefer my steak pink in the middle," Rose said, "I'm going to try the yoghurt-marinated lamb chops."

Teryn's stomach audibly rumbled. She pressed a hand over it. "You're making me hungry."

"We'll eat steak and tell Rose what she's missing," Scorpius said.

"Please join us," Rose added. Her puppy dog eyes would have worked on him, but Teryn wasn't as susceptible.

Scorpius held Felix out to her. "He'll be your lap warmer."

A witch holding a bag with the gold foil wrapped Canary Creams box sticking out at the top walked by them on her way out of the shop.

George strolled over. "Did I hear steak mentioned? Angelina's stuck in a Harpies management meeting, and I'm nothing but skin and bones." He made his stomach pooch out. "And fat."

Scorpius looked at Rose. He could tell that she had the same idea.

She said, "Why don't you both join us for dinner?" Teryn could tell Edgar that her boss had asked her come along. How could she turn down his invitation?

"Sounds good to me," George said. "I'll close up shop."

"You can hold Felix," Scorpius said to Teryn.

She reached for the Niffler.

.

The Panis terrace was a remodelled side alley that used espaliered fruit trees and shrubbery trained to grow flat to create a decorative focal point out of the neighbouring building's expanse of brick. Copper hanging lanterns and Illumination Orbs encased in balls made of antiqued copper wire provided soft light.

"Très posh," George said after they were seated and ordered drinks and chorizo scotched quail eggs as their "bites" before dinner. "I'll have to bring Angie here and impress her with my suave-ness."

"She'll love it," Teryn said wistfully.

Scorpius realised that Edgar probably took his girlfriend to hole in the wall places that no pure-blood would be caught dead in—if he took her anywhere.

"Oops, almost spilled my wine," Rose said. The look she gave him answered his silent question. Yes, she was once again distracting others from noticing his less-than-amiable facial expression.

He asked George, "Did you make a decision on whether or not to reformulate Plain Jane Potion? I was thinking that if you modified the taste and renamed the potion, you could sell to customers who fancied being incognito for a few hours. Celebrities, Ministry officials."

"Lovers keeping it a secret," George said. When no one responded, he said, "I'm not promoting infidelity."

"But you'd profit from it," Rose said.

George grinned. "I take no responsibility if customers misuse my products. Says so in fine print on every label."

Scorpius said, "That's an idea. You could take the Plain Jane Potions in the storage room and change the labels to Incognito Potion. If someone really wants his or her appearance disguised, they'll live with the sour apple taste."

"Where would we put it in the shop?" George asked Teryn.

She said, "I could create a display by the checkout till."

"To encourage last minute impulse buys. I'll switch the labels tomorrow."

The server delivered the soft boiled quail eggs wrapped in chorizo, breaded and fried, and then cut in half to display the white and yolk of the egg.

George asked, "Got any mustard?"

Dinner conversation was a mix of George and Teryn talking about memorable sales and customers, Rose sharing stories of Ministry training, and Scorpius answering Teryn's questions that were really about Edgar.

Were your friends surprised that you got a Niffler? Did they like him? Did Felix and their pets, if they had pets, get along?

Edgar's mother considered pets dirty and disease ridden, so Scorpius had never brought Felix when he went to the Goyles' house to play. His best mate avoided Felix because of his rat tail. Edgar swore he wasn't afraid of rats, but he'd been proven a liar when he opened the trunk of the Rent-a-Boggart.

"What?" George cried. He pointed his fork with a hunk of steak on it at Scorpius. "You can rent a Boggart? Why did no one ever tell me this?"

"Probably because it's illegal," Rose said.

Teryn glared at Scorpius. "Did you make your best mate cry?"

"No. He cursed and said the rat's willy had dragon pox, which was so funny we started laughing and the Boggart went back in the trunk." He smiled. "At the time, I thought the man who owned the Boggart said 'ridiculous,' because he thought it was funny, too, but he must have cast the spell Riddikulus."

"I remember how jealous I was that Dad got to fight a real Boggart in Defence Against the Dark Arts, not just pair up and take turns pretending to be one," Rose said.

"Educational standards are really in decline." George's teasing expression became reflective. "Too bad the Ministry never hired another Remus Lupin."

Teryn said, "I wish I could've gone to Hogwarts."

Unlike Remus Lupin, Teryn didn't have a Headmaster willing to give a werewolf the same opportunities as "normal" witches and wizards. When their young server, Mark, came around to check on them, Scorpius gestured to Teryn and told him, "We're here to celebrate our friend's birthday."

"I'll get the staff to sing Happy Birthday," Mark replied.

"She'd prefer the Hogwarts School Song."

"We've never had that request before!" Mark's face fell. "I don't think any of us remember all the words."

Rose opened her handbag and gave Scorpius paper and a quill. He wrote down the song and asked, "How many copies?"

"Uh, six," Mark said.

Rose cast a duplication spell. "No extra flick this time," she said as Mark hurried off to assemble the "Birthday crew."

"Yes, save it for special occasions," Scorpius replied.

Teryn asked, "What does an extra flick do?"

Scorpius said, "It makes the earth move."

"And that's all I need to hear," George said firmly, although he seemed amused.

The Panis servers gathered with song lyrics in hand, and sang:

Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,

Teach us something please . . . .

Teryn clapped the loudest at the end, and Mark gave her his copy of the lyrics. She exclaimed, "You wrote the date and drew a fairy cake with a candle. How sweet!"

Scorpius exchanged a look with Rose. More likely, Mark was sweet on Teryn. The server's face reddened. He asked what dessert he could bring them.

"Which is your favourite?" Teryn asked.

Mark said, "They're all good."

"Bring one of each, then." Scorpius said. "We'll share."

When they finally left the restaurant, Scorpius hailed a Squire Cab to take Teryn home while the others chatted by the lamp post. George, after pretending that he couldn't suck in his belly anymore, said he'd ask Angie to help him burn off calories and Disapparated.

"Thank you for everything," Teryn told them. She hugged him and Rose and kissed Felix's snout.

The Squire Cab screeched to a halt beside the kerb. Scorpius paid the cabbie and he and Rose returned Teryn's wave as the cab zoomed away.

Rose said, "That was thoughtful of you, giving Uncle George the idea to turn Plain Jane into Incognito Potion. Do you think Teryn and Edgar will use it to go out on her birthday?"

"Yes."

"You don't seem happy. Do you feel like you're promoting infidelity?"

"No." If Edgar's infidelity promoted divorce, Scorpius was all for it. He said, "It's where they'll go that I'm concerned about."

"You don't think . . . ."

Scorpius said, "We need to practice Legilimency as well as Occlumency. If Edgar brings Teryn to the party, I want to know about it."

.

.

A/N: This week started out great. I posted an Andromeda one shot called Must Love Kneazles. I started this chapter. And then I found out my cousin died. Freak thing, blood clot in the heart. She was a mum with two young boys. I'm still in shock and the funeral is tomorrow. Finishing the chapter helped me get through the week, so thanks to everyone who looks forward to reading the story on Fridays.

Special thanks to those who reviewed last chapter. alix33, Arcoiris, fynnsmom, glassycry, HopeWithinDarkness, NeedleInAHaystack, nobodysperfect2133, Nocturna Mae, nsavant, Rose of the West (Yes, take the challenge to write an Andromeda one shot!), VandyFNP, and yiota146.