Never Be The Same {SCOROSE}

Chapter 26 - Rose

I hadn’t expected to spend my Christmas at Saint Mungo’s, but when the sun rose on 25 December that was where I was. 

Perhaps I’d better go back and explain a few things. The day I told my parents that I was pregnant, they informed me that my grandfather was ill. My dad’s dad was the only grandpa I’d had much interaction with because something had estranged Mum from her parents after the war, and he was very dear to me. That is probably why they did not even come close, that day, to explaining the magnitude of what ailed him. 

To make a long story short, my grandfather had somehow contracted Dragon Pox. It seemed likely that he had been exposed to the disease at some point while he was still working for the Ministry, and it had sat dormant in his system until this past spring. 

According to the doctors, it wasn’t bad enough to kill him - but that didn’t mean it wasn’t pretty bad. Although he had been doing relatively well for a number of months, the symptoms had suddenly grown worse in late November, and he’d been in and out of Mungo’s every few days since then. On the twenty-third, Grandma had moved him back to the Burrow for what seemed like the thousandth time, with the full intention to keep him there through the holiday… but late last night, he had taken a bad turn, and we’d had no choice but to return him to the hospital. 

When I say ‘we,’ I mean the entire extended Weasley family, who had all been there for Christmas Eve dinner. And now all twenty-four of us were squeezed into a waiting room, longing for any news at all of our beloved patriarch. Included in that number were my grandmother, all my aunts and uncles, my parents, Hugo, and my cousins (with the notable exception of James Potter and the addition of Victoire’s fiance Teddy). 

Although my brother was sitting in the seat next to mine, he had not said a word to me in the hours that we had been there. Clearly, he was still angry, and I wasn’t going to make a useless effort to bring him around. On my other side was Dominique, with whom I was at least able to keep up some form of careless conversation, but I was beginning to itch for a new person to chat with, and as I scanned the room, my eyes landed on the dark-haired boy sitting mutely in the corner.

Albus hadn’t really spoken to me in the time since he’d first arrived at the Burrow with his family yesterday. My attempts to start a conversation with him had been shut down without any explanation, and he seemed to be doing his best to avoid me. I wondered why, because the last time I’d seen him, we’d been totally fine. My gaze shifted to his sister - if anyone could tell me what was going on with Al, it was Lily. 

I murmured an excuse to Dom and got up, heading over to where the Potters sat. I smiled at Al, but addressed only his sister. “I’m going to the loo, Lil. Care to come with me?”

My cousin easily recognized that it wasn’t just a trip to the bathroom, and she nodded without hesitation. “Sure thing. I won’t be long, Al.” Her brother mumbled an okay, and we were off.

Once out of the room, Lily turned to me with a frown. “Nothing’s wrong, is it?”

I shook my head as we walked through the bathroom door. “No… Not with me, at least. But I was wondering if Al is okay; he’s been avoiding me like the plague.”

She bit her lip. “I honestly don't know what’s going on with him… he seemed really happy on Friday before he left for Paris, but he came back on Saturday night and has hardly spoken a word since. Something must have happened…”

Paris? There was only one thing my cousin could have been doing in Paris. “He was visiting Scorpius?”

“Yeah. He was supposed to stay through yesterday, so we were all confused when he came home early. He wouldn’t tell me why, but I figure it had something to do with…” Lily trailed off.

I frowned. “Something to do with what? Do you think they fought?”

“No, I don’t think they fought… Well, if they did, it must have been because of… well…” She stopped again, and tilted her head at me. “How much has Al said to you about… about his preferences?”

Hm. “You mean, that he doesn’t like girls? I know.”

“But you don’t know specifically who he fancies?”

I shook my head. “No. Should I?”

“Probably… but I don’t think I should tell you if he hasn’t. Anyways, I was saying, if they fought it probably had something to do with the guy Albus likes.”

“Why would they fight about it?”

“Because Al won’t tell Scorpius who it is."

“Oh. Why not?”

“Probably because he doesn’t want anything to change.” I had a thousand more questions, but before I could so much as open my mouth Lily spoke again. “We should be getting back; they’ll be wondering where we’ve gotten to.”

When we returned to the waiting room, people were standing up as if they were going to leave. I looked inquisitively at my mother.

"He's doing better, and he's insisting that we go home to continue our festivities," Mum explained. "Uncle Charlie is going to stay with him."

"Oh. Alright." I doubted that the mood would be very festive, but we couldn't really refuse to do what Grandpa was asking of us. 

Back at the Burrow, we gathered in the kitchen for a small breakfast and then went to open presents. There were plenty of them, as always. Most of mine were baby things, which was thoughtful and I really did appreciate it - it showed that nobody resented my decision to keep the baby. By the time the present-opening was done, I was honestly rather tired. Pregnancy was, if nothing else, exhausting.

I turned to my mum. "I'm going to go home and take a nap… I'll come back later. Let me know if you lot go back to the hospital, alright?" 

"Certainly, darling. Get some rest; you need it. Shall I help you take the gifts back?"

"I'll go with her." 

I started at the male voice - one I hadn't really heard in months. The voice of my brother. He looked at me, and I saw the apology and question in his eyes. I nodded. "Hugo will take care of it, Mum."

Together, without speaking, we gathered the boxes in our arms and disapparated, reappearing inside the room that we had converted into a nursery. After setting down all the stuff, my brother turned to me. 

"Rosie-"

"You don't need to apologise," I said quietly.

"Let me," he pleaded. With a sigh, I nodded. "I was colossally stupid, Rose. I- I didn't know what to do or say… You're my sister, and I love you, and all I ever want to do is keep you safe… And when you told me, I felt like I had failed at that. So I was angry at myself, and it was all too easy to take it out on you. And when I realized how awfully I'd treated you, I was too stubborn to admit it. But I couldn't keep going on like that… I'm so, so sorry, Rosie. Can you possibly forgive me?"

I smiled. "Of course I forgive you. We all make mistakes… Merlin knows I can't judge." I laughed quietly.

Hugo wrapped his arms around me, and I was glad of it. "Thank you."

My brother walked me back to my room. When I opened the door, I saw a small package sitting on the bed. Hugo followed me as I went forward to inspect it, sitting down beside me as I tore open the paper.

There was a small jewelry box and a note. I opened the box first and sucked in a breath. Inside was a beautiful diamond-shaped locket, inlaid with what looked to be real emeralds. The note that accompanied it read as follows:

This locket was my mother's; I figure you can put a picture of the baby in it once he or she's born. Happy Christmas, Rosie.

Always yours,
Scorpius

P.S. Did you know that Albus was in love with me?