Twists of Fate

Chapter 2: Forty-Eight Hours

That was part of the reason he convinced her to start dating Griffon. He'd done it because he figured it'd be a good distraction for her broken heart. Griffon proved to be too good a distraction.

With him around Rose smiled and laughed more. Her eyes twinkled and she appeared generally happy. It was good to hear Rose sound more like herself. If someone didn't know Rose well, they would think she was perfectly happy. She had almost fooled Al too. Almost.

He hadn't meant to, but when they were moving all her stuff into her new flat, he saw the charms book.

It was coated in dust and tucked deeply in her favorite bookshelf. The binding was old and torn like Rose read it every night before bed. Something Albus was convinced she'd done. It was clearly she hadn't touched it in a long time. But it was in her favorite bookshelf. That was no accident. It was there for a reason.

He knew at that moment she'd fooled them all. She wasn't over Scorp. Not even close, she was coping. Maybe she didn't even realize it herself.

Albus was certain that he was right, which meant he was about to flip her world upside down. The last thing he wanted was to cause more heartbreak.

"Rose." Albus pushed himself out of the chair and moved behind her desk. Rose quirked her head at him. Kneeling down to her level, Al grabbed her hands.

"You're not dying are you?" Rose rushed out, suddenly feeling worried herself. "Because you're acting really strange and it's starting to scare me."

"I'm fine, Rose. Just prepare yourself." Al said. He paused trying to find the right words. "The Minister called me into her office today. She was going on and on about friendships and reuniting."

"Okay," Rose quirked her brows confused. Al being called into the Minister's office wasn't exactly strange, seeing as he was her assistant. "Why should that explain the reason you're acting so odd?"

Albus licked his lips and dropped the bomb. "Because it means Scorpius is coming home. The Minister-"

And just like that everything around Rose shattered. She stared at him, not hearing a word he said. One second. Two seconds. Three seconds. Thirty seconds passed and the only part of Rose that seemed to work was her mouth, which kept opening and closing, as she tried to find words, but no words came to mind. It was like all her vocabulary words had been completely wiped from her memory.

Albus kept talking, explaining how the minister approached him to ask if he would bring Scorp back. His words penetrated her confused mind, but she couldn't seem to grasp them entirely. The only words that got passed her walls were, Scorp's coming home.

Those three significant words replayed themselves over and over again on an endless loop in her mind.

"Rose," Albus said gently.

Rose's breathing picked up. "Um. I-I." Rose blinked swiftly, taking in deep breaths to try and find the ground that had been pulled out from under her. "When?" Rose asked finally.

"I'm going to get him in the morning," Albus revealed, carefully scrutinizing her. He expected some tears and even a major freak out. Right now all she was giving him was a shocked expression and a few ragged breaths. It was unnerving. "I've got to help him pack, give him his wand, and bring him to the minister so he can give a brief report on his findings. After that, I'll bring him to his parents sometime that afternoon."

"They've missed him," Rose said knowingly.

After Scorp left, she made sure to visit the Malfoy family at least once a month. Without Scorp, they really had no one. Their contact with friends and other members of the wizarding society was very minimum.