Scorpius lets Roxie wrap an arm around his shoulder. For once they're alone in the office, but it's late. Most of the other Aurors have gone home, and all of the department heads are in some meeting, arguing—most likely—about what approach to take with muggles and magic.

"I feel like a monster," he whispers to her. Roxie leans her head on his shoulder and they sit there, on his desk, in silence. "The look in their eyes when you do it." He shudders and Roxie doesn't say anything, she won't, not to anyone. Some of the other Aurors might find it hilarious that Scorpius Malfoy almost threw up after Obliviating a muggles memory of the magical world, she didn't.

"I know they want to keep it secret, but there has to be a better way," Roxie finally says. She had helped him, to make sure he did right, but Scorpius did most of it, he'd always been better at Charms than her and it was a delicate business. "Do you want to come to my place tonight? Pick up some pizza's and watch a movie on my crappy tv?"

"No…" Scorpius looks down at his watch. "I actually was supposed to have a date tonight. We were meeting late, at eight."

"You have plenty of time to make it," Roxie tells him. "Nothing like a pretty girl to take your mind off of things."

"It's…I'm not meeting a girl."

"Oh…Oh…" She laughs. "Well, nothing like a handsome boy to your mind off of things."

"I've been stressing out since I planned it with him. I don't even know…" He ran a hand through his hair. "He was flirting with me—or at least I thought he was—because he thought I was with Al."

Roxie let out a loud laugh at that and patted his shoulder. "Well, you will be going, and I'll help you get ready."

"What if I go on a date and I find out that I…you know men aren't me thing?"

"Then you know for sure." She shrugged. "But something tells me that you are attracted at least a little, if you were the one that asked him." Roxie slid away from Scorpius and got to her feet. "Besides, it'll do you good to spend time with someone that's not me or Al."

"Maybe you could take the same advice."

Roxie rolled her eyes. "If you start in on me about finding someone nice or getting married, I swear I will make Aunt Ginny's hexes look like child's play."

"Honestly, I wasn't going to say anything."

"Grandma Molly is," she muttered, reaching for Scorpius' wrist. "And Uncle Harry said that there were rumors flying around about us. We need to be careful, I don't want another partner."

Scorpius nodded as they walked towards that apparition point. Dating in the same department was allowed as long as they weren't a superior or worked directly alongside you—like he and Roxie did. However, in the Auror department they preferred it if no one dated in house at all. It led to too many problems and someone always ended up getting transferred. As long as people kept their noses out of their business him and Roxie were fine. He found a friend in her, a good, solid friend and he didn't want to screw that up. Not again.

Steve was already sitting at a table when Scorpius came in. He got up and greeted him with a warm smile and reached out to touch his arm just above the elbow. "Nice to see you again, I almost thought you weren't coming."

"Hard day," he said. "I almost didn't come."

"I'm glad you did." It became clear to Scorpius just how tactile Steve was, he placed his hand in the middle of his shoulder blades as they waited to order. He'd gotten better with touch, didn't see PDA as something to be ashamed of anymore.

After they ordered, they settled back down at a table and waited for their food. "Al never told me what you did."

"Engineering, you know constructing buildings, doing repairs, things like that," he answered. "Right now we're working on a lot of manors, old pure blood houses that families are finally deciding to renovate after the war."

"My mother would be interested in that."

"Right, you're a Malfoy, I forgot." At that their food was brought and Steve's lips curled into a smile as he took a drink of his beer. "I suspect that she would want to keep a lot of the original stuff."

He nodded taking a drink out of his own glass. "She's big on antiques, she would want the house restored back to its original condition." He shook his head and then looked up at him. "I wouldn't wish that upon anybody."

Steve laughed and Scorpius turned the conversation away from his family. Right now he'd require a lot more alcohol in his system to talk about his mother when he already felt like shit. He liked Steve, maybe as more than a friend. It was easy to tell that his hands were used to hard work, they were rough in a way that would never be completely smooth again and they felt nice against Scorpius'. He also was quick to laugh, keep things lighthearted. Being with him it was easy to see how Albus had made fast friends with him.

"You know, I feel like I've been talking an awful lot about myself. They only thing I know about you is that you're an auror, your mum is impossible, and your family has a large, old house."

"I work too much for my life to be terribly exciting," he admitted. "If it wasn't for my partner I'd probably work a hundred hours a week."

"Your partner's Al's cousin right? One of the girls."

"Yeah, Roxie, you should meet her some time, otherwise she'll pop up when you least expect her."

"So, do you want to do this again?" Steve reached out across the table, a few of his fingers lingering on Scorpius wrist. It was different, but it didn't feel wrong. "When you asked me I wasn't completely sure of your… I mean, when started on you in the bar, I only turned on my charm because I thought you and Al were together."

"I just want to things slow, but I like this." Scorpius gave him a smile and Steve linked their hands together.

"I want another drink, do you want one, and stay a bit longer?"

"Yeah, I don't work tomorrow." He reached into his pocket for coins and was glad when Steve didn't object. He sat there waiting, and trying not to think about the day. This date was a good distraction and it had gone better—

"Scorpius?" a voice tore him out of his thoughts and he saw none other than Daphne Nott coming toward him. Merlin that was the last thing he needed now. He'd gone on one date with Ophelia, then went with her to Daphne's wedding and his mum hadn't dropped it since. "It's so good to see you!" She gave him a hug. "True and I are in town."

"I didn't know."

She flicked her hair over her shoulder. "He's not with me, now, though. I'm meeting up with—"

As if on cue Lily Potter appeared and it was like he'd been punched in a gut. Forget the feeling in his stomach when Steve carelessly flirted with him that night, or how good his touch felt, seeing Lily… She looked gorgeous in casual emerald colored robes, dark red hair floating around her shoulder and face devoid of any makeup. This was one of the few times that she looked like a proper witch. If he took her home to his mum she would wonder when he was proposing.

"Scorpius, they were out of what you had, so I got—" Steve froze when he saw the two woman standing in front of the table, he set down one glass in front of Scorpius, then took a drink of his before resting his free hand on his date's shoulder. "Who-?"

"Old friends," he murmured. "Daphne Nott, and…" He looked at Lily, not really wanting to say her name. "That's Al's sister, Lily."

"I've heard a lot about you." He stuck out his hand to each of them. "I'm Steve, Steve Smith."

"Oh?" Daphne said. "How do the two of you know each other?"

Steve paused, his blue eyes meeting Scorpius', taking his wish of moving things along slowly very seriously.

"We met through Al, we're on a date," Scorpius explained. looking directly at Lily. Her warm brown eyes widened and she bit her lip, one hand clenching up.

"How nice," she murmured. "You know, Daph, I had a long day, I really should be going. It was nice to see you."

When the two women left Scorpius found it a bit easier to breath. He had seen Lily sporadically over the last few years. He was good friends with her brother and cousin after all, her father was his boss, and she worked at the only large wizarding hospital in England. "Aren't you going to ask me about that?"

"You look like someone hexed you, I don't think you want to talk about it." Steve took a drink of his beer. "I was just surprised to see that you told them."

"Well, it's a long story and I did have a bit of an ulterior motive." He took a drink of his beer. "My mum has been pestering me to start things up with Daphne's older sister for ages, and Lily…" He set down the glass. "We dated for nearly three years. I was 16 when we started and it lasted even after I left Hogwarts and Lily was still there."

"Same old story? You broke up with her because of the distance?"

"No, she broke up with me because…" He shook his head. "We were young and it was a mess, truly." He groaned. "I'm sorry about this, the last thing I wanted to talk about is some ex from when I was a kid."

"Don't be," Steve said, reaching out to touch his hand. "Although, if you really are sorry than promise me we'll do this again some time."

Scorpius looked at him, felt the roughness of his and saw the honest emotions written across his face. "Of course, maybe next time we shouldn't go to one of the two wizarding bars in all of London."

Steve nodded and didn't ask questions about the two women, instead he drained his beer and waited for Scorpius to do the same. They left the bar that night and neither was clear headed enough to apparate. The two walked and talked until it grew late enough that they began to be drowsy. When they said goodbye, Steve lingered a bit, his hand brushing against Scorpius' shoulders. He was true to his word and moved at a pace Scorpius was comfortable with. Soon the two parted, each apparating to their respective homes. As Scorpius let himself into the apartment, Lily's face stuck in his mind. Could he truly be happy with Steve? It would be different, but different wasn't necessarily bad and maybe…maybe he wasn't met to be with her. He had barely let himself think about her in years, only on the seldom occasion when he was invited to a family function that she was at. Still, he realized that in order to move forward, he must leave behind that part of his life.

Lily leaves the hospital on her lunch hour on purpose. It's been swamped for a good three hours straight, back to back dealing with curses and potion accidents and just plain stupidity. Usually she hangs out in the break room, but she knows she'll be convinced into helping on her break and get a whole ten minutes to herself. So, she takes the large coin designed to heat up and vibrate if her presence is needed and goes to the nearest café, a muggle place, so she's thankful she remembered pounds.

The place is filled to the gills, much like the emergency room. She waits in line and orders a fancy coffee that she normally wouldn't order, but she needs to get calories into her and fast. That comes alone with a sandwich and pastry from their food case. Surveying the room she doesn't want to walk the extra blocks to the park, her flat is too far, and she does not want to go to the hospital. That's when she spies a table with an empty chair and a familiar face.

"Mind if I eat here?" she questions, looking at her neighbor. Michael is in his uniform and it looks like he just got his food.

"Lily." There is no tone of affection in his voice. She doesn't blame him after that dinner, but she had hoped it wasn't completely ruined. "What are you doing?"

"I'm on lunch." She sits down in the seat. "And this is the closest to the hospital without being in the hospital." She takes a large bite of her sandwich. "I work at St. Mary's in the Urgent Care." The lie comes easily, but it St. Mungo's is connected to the Ministry and all Ministry employees are briefed in keeping the magical world hidden from muggles.

"I heard about that, small hospital."

"Yeah," she said, the lie feels wrong in her mouth. If only he could see it. "Listen, I'm sorry about dinner that night. Daphne is, well she's a sweetheart, a bit overbearing and comes off a little shallow, but she's great once you get to know her."

"Lily, you don't need to explain to me. Listen, I'm fine with you and dinner was good, but it'd be better if we stay neighbors or just friends. Okay?"

"Let me explain—"

"No, let me. When I first met you in the hallway I thought I had you pegged and then when I saw you that night I thought that you were a girl that I'd like to get to know, but we'd never work out. I've tried dating girls like you and I'm not what you want. My job isn't glamorous, hell, I didn't even go to college. I can't give you a big ring, and I won't impress your parents."

"Is that who you think I am?"

"I saw your friend Lily, the ring on her finger, and how she talked about schools."

"You're wrong you know." She looked up at him. "There is a lot you don't understand."

Michael is silent he pulls something out of his pocket that Lily doesn't quite recognize. A thin rectangle made of glass and metal…Her muggle cousins had those, called them cell phones. Magic interfered with them too much for wizards to use, some muggle borns were getting creative and coming out with something called a communicator that used magic instead of electricity. "I know it's old," he said.

"I wouldn't know," she blurted out and he looked at her strangely. "I don't have a phone."

"You're joking?" His eyes were widened in disbelief.

"No." She shrugged and took a drink of her coffee. It was lukewarm by now and tasted a bit better. As she took a drink she felt the coin vibrate in her pocket and groan. She reached inside and felt that it had grown warm. One or other meant that she should try to head back early, both meant that her presence was required. "I need to get back to work, it was nice seeing you."

"Yeah, maybe we could try dinner again?" His voice is steady and he has a smile that makes the words seem so sincere. She wants to say more but knows she should rush back to the hospital. Once there, any thoughts of her personal life leave her as she is sent to take care of a bad case that it is her specialty, the after effects of a nasty curse. Hours later the patient is better and thank her profusely, the family comments on her efficient work and excellent bedside manner. She just wishes she had the same effect on people that weren't her patients. Ella finds her at the desk organizing the files and tells her to leave an hour early. Lily goes back to her flat and collapses on her bed after taking her shoes off.