Chapter 33

Alison stayed with Rose until Ben rushed through the door at 4:30, making her late for Victoire's shower. She had let Rose off the hook slightly. The last thing she said on the topic was, "You know, when you see him, you should give him a chance. You should get to know him without judgement." Rose had agreed and made a promise to herself to try and keep the past out of her vision when she saw Scorpius for the first time.

However, at the moment, she was on the arm of Ben, her hard working, loyal, charming, and refined boyfriend. She looked up at him, as they made their way to the entrance of the event. He wasn't particularly tall, only just being taller than her. He had dark brown hair that was neatly and perfectly styled, as always. His strong and lean jaw was, as always, clean shaven; she often wondered if he ever had a moment in which he didn't look perfect as opposed to her who would often come home a mess after being at work all day. Even in the mornings he was always up before her, most of the time showered and dressed and she had to be up before six. Even on the weekends he was up and working in the study or cleaning the flat; sometimes he would go back to his flat 'to check' on things, meaning he was just going to snack on his favourite Muggle breakfast cereal, which Rose would not condone in her kitchen.

Before they reached the entrance he stopped and turned to her. "Rose, I want to thank you for coming tonight," he started in his smooth, business like voice. He was definitely focused on the business tonight and nothing was going to distract him, not even his beautiful and stunning girlfriend. "This is really important to me and I am happy you're here," he said smiling. "I only just got the promotion, so it is imperative that we show a united front and socialize tonight. It makes my job much easier to have colleagues and men of stature on my side, and this is the perfect opportunity to lay a solid platform for my career. Do you understand?" Rose nodded, but had never felt so inferior her whole life. She quickly shot down and controlled the anger that was boiling up inside of her. "Good. Thank you," he responded, smiling as if nothing was wrong, not even noticing that flash of anger in her eyes as she covered it up.

True to his word, as soon as they had entered the massive ballroom, Ben started working the room. He was doing a wonderful job too. Rose stood by him, answering minute questions while fake smiling and laughing when appropriate. When she couldn't take much more she quickly excused herself for the bathroom, but instead headed out to one of the many balconies, away from all the guests, into the fresh air. Sipping her glass of champagne, she looked up into the dark sky, admiring the thousands of sparkling stars that lit up the night. She thought about what her family would be doing at Victoire's shower, whether they enjoyed her cake and the many presents she knew they would receive. As Rose continued to stare out at the starry night sky, she noticed what looked like a blue, glowing light moving towards her. Suddenly it stopped in front of her, glowing and pulsing. She could see it was a squirrel and immediately recognised it as Lucy's Patronus; Rose started to worry.

Lucy's sweet voice echoed, "The others didn't want to disturb you, but I know Victoire would want you to know. The baby's coming; we are at St Mungo's." Then the squirrel disappeared. Rose was so happy for Victoire and Teddy, but was suddenly overcome with guilt. 'Everyone else was going to be there and I am here at this stupid Ministry Gala' she thought. With that in mind she quickly entered the ballroom again in search of her boyfriend.

Scorpius walked up to Lucy, as all of the others argued about whether to inform Rose of the development as she was the only one not present in the large waiting room. They had been at it for a couple of hours already. "So, did you take care of it?" he asked with a cheeky smile.

"Yes, just like you asked," she replied in her sweet voice. "I just hope I didn't disturb her night."

"She would want to know regardless," Scorpius reassured. Lucy just nodded as she watched her Aunts, Uncles and cousins argue with a wary expression. Seeing this Scorpius comfortingly wrapped his arm around the younger girl's shoulders. "Come on, might as well get comfortable," he said as he steered her towards the corner of many chairs in the waiting room. "Merlin knows these things take a while," he added with a smile. Lucy laughed as she allowed him to guide her.

"Ben," she interrupted him in the middle of what she was guessing to be some kind of Ministry inside joke that wasn't funny. He recovered quickly and excused them both politely. He pulled her away to the nearest corner.

"Rose, I thought I made myself clear," he practically hissed, in an attempt to keep his voice down. "This is very important-"

"So is this," she exclaimed with a large grin although in a hushed voice, interrupting him again as she was unable to control her excitement.

"Okay, well what is it?"

"Victoire is having her baby."

"Yes, I know she's pregnant but-"

"No, I mean right now," Rose clarified unable to wipe her smile off her face. "Everyone's at St Mungo's now."

"Really? That's wonderful, Rose," he said, also with excitement. Rose was glad to see he was happy for her family as well. "That's great, how did you find out?" he asked still smiling.

"Lucy sent me a Patronus, but that's not important," Rose waved it off. "Come on, we have to go," she said excitedly, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the exit. However, he stopped her.

"Woah, hold on Rose," he said, causing her smile to fade. "We can't go yet, and this is important too," he explained, motioning to the party behind them.

"Ben, my cousin is about to give birth to her first child," Rose said in a strained voice as she tried to keep herself calm. "That only happens once; there are many gala's and Ministry events that you can attend." Ben looked torn, but ultimately he wasn't going to budge.

"How about we just stay a bit longer; you know how child birth is a lengthy procedure," Ben suggested. Rose sighed.

"No, I'll go and you can come by later," Rose said sounding a little defeated, especially as she saw Ben perk up at the suggestion before trying to hide it. The sad thing is he never used to be this bad. In fact, his ambition and hard work ethic is one of the things she used to love about him.

"Are you sure? I will come if you really want me to, it's just that-"

"No, it's fine, really," she reassured him with a fake smile, but he couldn't see the difference.

"Okay, I promise I'll be there in a couple of hours," he said with a smile. Without another word and only a kiss on her cheek, he left to return to the group he was charming earlier. Rose just sighed before leaving the Gala and apparating to a side alley a couple of blocks away from the St Mungo's entrance.

The large waiting room seemed rather small with all of the Weasley family present and completely at home. Scorpius scanned the room around him as he waited just as anxiously as the others. Lily sat beside him, plaiting Roxanne's long brown hair as she sat on the floor in front of her cousin reading a magazine, which he suspected was Witch Weekly. Ron and Hugo sat at a table across from one another with Ron's travel chess board in between them, while Hermione sat next to her husband reading, their hands playing with each other's affectionately and naturally under the table.

Harry and Ginny sat much like Albus and Alison. He had his arm around her and she leaned into him, resting her head comfortably in the crook of his neck. Bill seemed to be calming Fleur down as she was clearly anxious and worried for her daughter. George had his arm around his wife Angelina, while she flicked through an old Quibbler, but was clearly engaged and enjoying a discussion with his son and nephew, Fred and James. Louis was obviously incredibly nervous as he sat leaning forward, hunched, resting his chin in his hands. Zoe sat beside him, trying to comfort the soon-to-be-uncle by massaging his shoulders. Molly and Lucy sat not too far from him chatting quietly while Dominique sat on his other side quietly and nervously playing with her fingers. Scorpius leaned back in his chair before speaking.

"Well, I guess you'll be telling everyone sooner then you thought now that the little one is early," Scorpius said with a smile as Dominique turned to face him.

"I know," she mumbled in reply.

"I am guessing that is why you look incredibly worried right now," Scorpius speculated. Dom nodded looking down at her fingers.

"I just don't know how to tell them," she said vulnerably, looking out at all of her family. He could see she was generally concerned and desperately worried, though he didn't understand was why. "But I know I'm not doing it without Jacob," she added confidently. Scorpius sighed and stood up.

"Well, I think you have nothing to worry about; they will be happy for you and everything will be fine. Would you like some tea or coffee?"

"Tea would be great," Dom answered with a tired smile. Scorpius nodded, before turning around and walking down the short corridor that led back towards the lift and reception. After following it around a blend, that is exactly what he found with the addition of a table full of refreshments. As he busied himself making Dominique's tea, he heard a voice that he had not heard in a long time.

"Excuse me, but I am here for Victoire Lupin, she is having a baby," Rose said to the healer at the reception desk. He turned his head and was not prepared for what he saw. Rose stood there in an elegant, backless, floor-length, emerald dress, facing away from him showing off the soft skin of her back as she spoke to the healer. The dress highlighted all the beauty he remembered and all that was new. He could see she was so much more than the 18 year old girl he had left behind; she had matured into an elegant, tasteful woman. Her hair was styled in a sort of messy up do, with loose tendrils falling around her face and over her shoulder. She was stunning in every meaning of the word and all Scorpius could do was stare, slack-jawed and breathless.

"Yes, that is usually what happens on this floor," the healer joked. Rose let out a little laugh, and Scorpius just smiled. Once again he caught sight of that beautiful smile from afar, again wishing it was directed at him. It seemed like not much had changed, like he was right back to where he was three and a half years ago; only he wasn't, he had changed and he was a different person. He just hoped she hadn't changed too much. "Now, you'll just need to sign in. Name?" the healer asked.

"Ah, Ro-"

"Rose Weasley," Scorpius answered for her, gaining his composure and walking towards her. Rose slowly turned around, shocked and not feeling really prepared for the inevitable reunion she was about to endure.

Hello and sorry about the delay. On the upside, I am now 18! Yay :) had my birthday on Friday and it was awesome! If I do say so myself ;)

I hope you enjoy this chapter and I hope to get the next one up sooner rather then later :) Please tell me what you think of Ben, what are you thoughts on the direction of the story?

Now, as concerns Victoire and Teddy's baby, I have names already picked, but what I want to know is...Boy or Girl? :)

Please review, follow and fav :)