Chapter 48

"Quickly everyone, gather around," Mrs Weasley called out across her yard to all her family and friends. "Quickly, quickly now, dears," she continued, ushering more people into position around the new little family. "I would actually like to know the name of my great granddaughter before I'm a hundred," she mumbled.

"Yes, thank you, Gran," Victoire noted sternly, having caught her grandmother's comment as everyone gathered in a semi-circle in front of them. Teddy stood proudly next to his wife, an arm around her waist, occasionally glancing down at his daughter, who lay cradled in Victoire's arms, with a delighted fatherly smile. Once everybody was gathered and settled, Victoire looked up at Teddy; communicating without words, they decided that he should start the announcement and ceremony.

"First, we'd like to take this opportunity to thank you all for joining us today as we celebrate the start of my beautiful daughter's journey in this world," Teddy spoke in a slightly raised voice, making sure that he could be heard by everyone. "I have been made well aware that raising a daughter is one hell of a ride, especially a Weasley girl," Teddy nodded, towards a group of men in the crowd which included Harry, Ron, George, Bill and Arthur. Everyone laughed as the men cowered underneath their wives' and daughters' glares. "But I take a great deal of comfort in knowing that we have amazing family and friends to lean on and to support us and our little girl on this journey," Teddy continued. There was a round of applause that followed with some tears from Fleur and Mrs Weasley. "Two people, who we especially hope she can turn to when her Mum is being controlling and moody-"

"Or her Dad is being overprotective and no fun," Victoire cut in with a cheeky smirk, drawing a murmur of laughs from the audience.

"-to be there and help guide her throughout her life," Teddy continued ignoring his wife but smiling all the same.

"Dom and Jacob," Victoire called out, finding her sister in the audience. "Could you please join us out here?" Dominique and Jacob made their way to the front. Dominique stood beside her sister with Jacob at her other side. "Jacob, ever since you met Dom you have always been there for her," Victoire began. "You have made her so happy and all of us can see how much better she feels when you're around. This is what we hope you can give our daughter. One day, who knows it might be official," Victoire hinted, ignoring her sister's warning glare. "But for now, I just want you to know you are a part of our family." There was another round of applause.

"Dom, you are my sister and are everything that it entails," Victoire said as though she was only speaking to Dominique. "You are annoying, sometimes mean, but most of all you are there for me. These last few months especially, you have shown me the true meaning of sisterhood. You have put up with all of my flaws, some brought on from the pregnancy and others not, but you were there," Victoire said with a smile which Dom returned gratefully, her eyes glassy. "This is what I hope you can give our daughter too. To be there when she needs someone to talk to; to be there to pick her up when she gets knocked down."

"What my loving wife is trying to say is…" Teddy added. "Would you please be our curious, sweet, beautiful daughter's godparents?"

"We would love to," Dom replied quickly, hugging Victoire carefully, not wanting to squish the baby. Jacob moved around the sisters to shake Teddy's hand.

"So without further ado," Teddy addressed the audience again, the sisters breaking apart. "We would like to introduce…" Teddy wrapped his arm around his wife again. He nodded to her, again signalling without words for her to take it from there.

"Samantha Dora Lorraine Lupin," Victoire said, both parents smiling proudly looking out over the joyous crowd.

After the ceremony, the rest of the lovely afternoon was spent in the garden, the guests all getting a chance to meet Samantha Lupin and socialise. As soon as the sun started to go down, the guests bid the new family goodbye. The Potters had invited Ron and Hermione and their niece and nephew around to their place for dinner. Rose and Alison joined Hermione and Ginny in the kitchen to help with dinner, while Lily and Ella sat talking and catching up with the men outside.

"Did you hear what Victoire hinted at? Jacob officially being a part of the family?" Ginny gossiped, as she leant against the kitchen bench nursing a glass of wine.

"Fleur wouldn't be happy about that," Hermione thought aloud as she attended to the vegetables.

"Why? Dom seems happy with him," Alison commented as she handed ingredients to Rose who was making a special glaze for the Lamb.

"Search me? Probably something to do with him being a bad influence," Ginny answered.

"Fleur thinks almost everything has a bad influence on Dom," Hermione commented. "Crazy woman thinks that she is their problem child." Rose had tuned their conversation out, choosing not to comment and much more interested in what she could see out the window.

Hugo and Scorpius were standing away from the rest of the group by the old swing set in what looked like an argument. It didn't last long and before Rose knew it Hugo had stormed off in her direction. Rose watched as her brother entered the kitchen, plastering on a half-hearted smile to cover his scowl, and approached their mother.

"Hey Mum, I am sorry but have to head off," Hugo said, with a quick kiss to her cheek. "Say goodbye to Dad for me." Rose watched as he quickly moved to give his Aunt a hug before his mother could question him. "Thank you Aunt Ginny, but I can't stay," Hugo said, as he made a beeline for the Floo. "Bye Sis," was the last thing he said before he disappeared with a burst of flames.

"What in the world was that all about?" Hermione questioned, slightly shocked at her usually cheerful son's behaviour.

"It can't be my cooking, Rosie is here," Ginny replied. Rose didn't answer, but instead her gaze immediately searched out the blonde man through the window. Scorpius had sat down on one of the swings, his shoulders slumped while his arms wrapped around the chains. His eyes were downcast, staring down at what Rose recognised as his Rubik Cube that he held in his hands.

"Rose, do you have any clue as to why your brother was acting strangely?" Rose was brought out of her daze by her mother's voice. "Rose?" Hermione tested, now concerned for her daughter. Rose finally tore her eyes away from the blonde and looked at her mother.

"Ah…" was all that came out of Rose's mouth. She wasn't sure, although she did have a fair idea what was troubling her brother. However, for some unknown reason to herself, all she could think about was getting to Scorpius. She wanted to make sure he was okay, but she was torn between Scorpius and comforting her mother's concern, saving Hugo from a future Hermione Weasley interrogation. And just like that, the decision was quite simple.

"Would you please excuse me?" Rose said as she quickly emptied her hands and made her way out the back door, not waiting for a reply.

Scorpius stared down at his Rubik Cube, trying to gather his thoughts. 'Maybe that was a bit pushy,' he thought. It wasn't long until a soft voice brought him back from his mind.

"Hi." At the sound of her voice, Scorpius' head shot up quickly, his eyes quickly seeking out hers. She gave him a small smile, but he could see that she was worried about something.

"Hi," he mumbled.

"Do you mind if I join you?" she asked, her eyes gesturing to the spare swing.

"No, not at all," Scorpius replied. Rose sat down one the swing, the chains making a light creak as she did, and the two lapsed into a comfortable silence.

"So…" Rose spoke after a while, finally feeling the need to address the reason she was there. "I am guessing that little spat you had with my brother was about Ella?" To Rose's surprise Scorpius didn't say anything, he just confirmed with a nod of his head as he continued to stare down at his cube. "Are you okay?" At the sound of her concerned voice, he looked up at her again. He had rarely seen such concern in her eyes, especially directed at him.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said assuring her as quickly as he could. "It's Hugo that you should be worried about."

"Don't worry he will get his," she replied in a slightly playful manner. "I won't let him off that easy."

"I don't doubt that," Scorpius chuckled. Rose found herself all the happier just from seeing his face light up and knowing that she had in some way caused that. They both slipped into another silence, both of their gazes directed at the ground, both smiling to themselves. "Do you remember the last time we were here?" this time Scorpius interrupted the calm.

"Yeah, we said goodbye."

"No, if I remember correctly," Scorpius said jokingly, "you were saying goodbye, and I was saying see you later."

"Well, I honestly thought that it was. I knew that you would always keep in touch with Al and Hugo but I always thought you'd like the adventure too much to ever really come back for good," Rose explained, her voice still light and joyful. "Either that or you'd be eaten by a Lion in Africa," she added teasingly. They both laughed at that.

"Actually that almost did happen, blasted cat wanted my lunch," Scorpius said.

"I know," Rose replied, through her laughter. "Who would have thought Lion's would like Chocolate Frogs."

"What?" It was just then that Rose realised what she had said. "How did you know it was a Chocolate Frog?" Scorpius asked, already drawing his own conclusions to what it meant. Rose scrambled to find another reason as to how she knew that information other than the actual reason which was because it was in his letters.

"Ah…Um…" she stuttered.

"Scorp," Albus called out to them from the patio. Rose had never been so grateful for her cousin's interruption, until she saw the look on his face when she directed her eyes on him. Something was up, and Scorpius could tell too. "There is someone here to see you."

"Me?" Scorpius asked, confused as to why there would be someone here to see him. Albus just nodded in confirmation. "Um…Okay, I'll be right there," Scorpius said as he stood up. Albus nodded again before turning around and walking back inside the house. Just when Rose thought Scorpius was going to follow him, he turned around and offered his hand to her. She looked up at him; she could see it in his eyes, he knew what it meant. However, she could not decipher whether his reaction would be a good or bad one to the fact that not only had she not replied, but she also had made it seem like she had never received or read his letters. Slowly, Rose placed her hand in his as he graciously assisted her to her feet. Only once she was standing did she realise how close they were. "This isn't over," Scorpius whispered into the space between them, his magnificent blue eyes never leaving her own rich brown ones. She nearly gulped under his intense gaze, but instead she nodded. With that Scorpius started towards the house again, not letting go of Rose's hand, but pulling the red head along with him. Rose caught up with him so that she was walking beside him. She smiled when she felt him interlock their fingers, and before she could really think about it, she gave his hand a small squeeze in return. Scorpius thinking it was safer opted to go through the kitchen rather than the patio to get to the foyer. Ignoring the stares of the three women still in the kitchen, Scorpius and Rose made their way through the Potter's house to meet Albus at the front door. When they entered the foyer and Scorpius' gaze fell on who had come to see him, he stopped in his tracks, his eyes wide. As Rose took a closer look at the woman, she quickly noticed the resemblance. Everyone always thought Scorpius looked like his father, which he probably did, but as she looked into her magnificent blue eyes, Rose had no doubt who this was.

"Mother?"

Hi everyone :) I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Let me know what you think, I could really use your feedback. I have planned a few things that are to crop up later in the story that I am considering changing and I would really appreciate your advice and of course where you see all of the characters in the future. So, leave a review and let me know :)