Dance Lessons - Scorose

Scars

Rose spent almost all of her time over the next three days in the hospital, sat next to Scorpius' bed. He had plenty of visitors: his parents, Albus and Alice, Rose's parents, Neville, Charlie and Lily, Victoire and Teddy. Of course they were brief visits. He wasn't actually awake, after all.

When Scorpius woke up, he was shocked by how bright it was. Sunlight was pouring through the windows and directly onto his bed. He looked straight ahead of him to see lots of get well soon cards, flowers and baskets full of sweets and Weasley products. He tried to clear his throat and winced from the pain in his chest.

He glanced down to see Rose asleep in the chair next to the bed. She had fallen forwards and was resting her arms and head on the mattress, a mess of red curls covering her face. She was still wearing the jumper that Albus had dropped off at the hospital a few days before.

Scorpius reached over and brushed his wife's hair off of her face and behind her ear. She opened her eyes and took a second to focus on what was happening.

"You're awake!" She said, a smile forming on her face. She stood up, cupped his face in her hands and kissed him. "You need to brush your teeth,"

Scorpius laughed. "Sorry, Rosie, I'll make a note to train my unconscious self to keep up with oral hygiene. Are you okay?"

"Why are you asking about me? You were the one who was attacked. Oh no, you don't have amnesia do you? How many fingers am I holding up?" She asked, holding three fingers in front of his face.

"What? No, I'm fine. I was just making sure you weren't hurt. In sickness and health and all that, and stop it," he said, batting Rose's hand out of his eye line, "that's for concussion, not amnesia. How long have I been out?"

"Three days. So many people have come to see you. Honestly, people would think you're the bloody Queen! How are you feeling?" She asked.

"A bit groggy, not going to lie," he tried to sit up, "and in quite a lot of pain,"

"They said it'll be painful for a few days but should get better. It took them a while to stop the bleeding. Miracle you survived really,"

"Ah, you're not going to get rid of me that easily," he replied as he cupped her face with his right hand which she leaned into.

*          *          *

At around midday, Albus turned up carrying his daughter and poked his head around the door.

"Alright Sleeping Beauty?" he asked as he came into the room and sat down in a free chair, putting his feet up on the bed and setting Gwen on Scorpius' lap.

"Always knew you fancied me, Al," Scorpius retorted with a wink, "hiya, Gwennie! How're you doing, sweetheart?" Scorpius gently bobbed her up and down with his knees. Albus smiled.

There was a brief moment of silence.

"Not dead, then?" Albus asked.

" 'fraid not, sorry,"

"Ah, that's alright. You can try harder next time, there's always room for improvement," Albus joked, "Oh, and by the way, the chess score is now 6 - 3 to me,"

"What? We were tied 3 all! Have you been playing Wizard Chess with me whilst I've been unconscious?" Scorpius asked in disbelief.

"Well, it's not my fault you couldn't be bothered to mentally attend the game. Can I have one of these?" Albus asked, picking a chocolate frog out of a basketful of them which was resting on the side.

"Yeah sure, they're from my dad, toss us one would you?" Rose replied. Albus threw one to her and another one to Scorpius and sat back in his original position.

"Oh for Merlin's sake. I've got dad again," Rose moaned, looking at the card in her packet and holding it up to show the picture of Ron.

"Me too," Albus added.

"And me," Scorpius said.

"Wait, what? What are the chances of that, unless," Rose began as she tore open two more packets, letting the frogs hop away, "they're all 'Ronald Bilius effing Weasley'. He's such a muppet," 

The three of them couldn't help laughing. Ron had always considered getting his own chocolate frog card as his greatest achievement in life. That combined with the famous Weasley humour and it wasn't exactly surprising. 

*          *          *

"Scorpius, don't be silly, come on, open the door," Rose called through the door. She was standing in Scorpius' room and he had locked himself in the bathroom to get ready for his last night in the hospital before he went home.

"No, Rose, I don't want you to see - Rosie, no - " he said but Rose had forced the door open using magic. He turned his back to her but it was no use. There were dark red scars covering his entire torso. Fifteen, maybe twenty. He sighed and hung his arms in defeat, dropping his pyjama shirt to the floor. Rose walked into the room and shut the door behind her. She placed her hands on his shoulders and turned him around to face her. Her fingers were cold and he flinched at her touch.

Rose wiped a tear off of his cheek with her thumb and pulled him into a hug. After a minute, she stepped back from him and rolled up her sleeve, exposing her right elbow.

"You see this? I got this scar when I was six and fell over in my grandparent's garden, and this one," she said, holding up her hair to show the skin behind her left ear which had a thin scar, "happened in first year transfiguration when Al accidentally flew his needle across the room instead of turning it into a matchstick. And remember when my shoulder was shattered by that bludger?" 

Rose pulled her top down to show her left shoulder blade. There was a faint scar from where the ball had collided with her body.  She rested her hands on his torso. The scars where rough under her soft fingers.

"There, you've seen my scars and you know about my parents' scars. They aren't anything to be ashamed of, Scorp. They're battle wounds. I wish I could say I got mine from a horrifying attack in which I lived to tell the tale instead of falling over the garden step or being in the crossfire of Al's frankly dangerous magic. I love you, scars and all."

Rose led him back into the room and watched as he got into the bad, having already put his pyjama shirt on.

"Well, budge up then," she said and he laughed, moving over in the bed to make room for her. They laid facing each other and Rose stroked Scorpius' hair until he fell asleep, falling asleep herself soon after that.