From this moment
Forget what we were scared of
Say we're never giving up
You say you'll always
-Gavin DeGraw feat Colbie Caillat-

Epilogue: 1 Year Later

Rose yawned, falling backward in the grass and lying there for longer than it was necessary. In the back of her mind she wondered when Scorpius would come home. He mostly worked cold cases, but for the past two weeks he'd been doing an undercover assignment with Albus and she hadn't the slightest clue when he would come back. A few times she stared at her plain hand and sighed.

She had insisted he get his own place and get his life back before jumping into a serious commitment with her. He told her she was being ridiculous, but it took her about three months to realize that he was usually over her house anyway. Her pledge to never live with someone without marriage attached stuck in her mind. She had been living with him for nine months, but she had decided to suck it up and let it go. The statistics were there and she knew the reasons why they were correct, but she simply didn't care. They were happy and she wasn't going to force him to propose to make it perfect on paper.

"What are you doing?" James questioned before dropping down and laying down on the grass beside her.

"Thinking, what are you doing?"

He shrugged, "Caroline is on the warpath-"

"You should have told her your parents were coming over. She looked like hell and you know your mother still hasn't quite warmed to her yet."

James shot her a look. "It's because she wants grandkids immediately and how the hell did you-?"

"She tells me everything." Rose snorted, "You shouldn't have married my best friend."

"Best female friend." James corrected her.

"Be thankful you are Leo's godfather and not godmother."

"I am," James snickered, "The look on Al's face when you asked if he'd do it…priceless."

"Well it seems like a bit of over kill for him to have three godfathers. I thought I should even it out a bit." Rose reasoned.

"Ah huh, and it's not at all because Leo took away your eyebrows and Al didn't tell you?"

"Not. At. All."

James turned over, "So I think she's pregnant."

"Caroline?" Rose questioned.

"No, Victoire… Yes my wife!"

"Okay, but that wasn't even a good joke. Victoire is on baby number five."

James rolled his eyes. "Are you going to take me seriously?"

"Yes, you think your wife is pregnant. And why do you think that?"

"Because I found the stick in the trash and it was positive."

Rose sighed, "I told her to just make a potion. Once a muggleborn, always a muggleborn."

"You knew?!"

"I knew she thought she might be. Not that she actually was."

"You know I've noticed a little slant in your sharing skills in the past few years Ro."

Rose pointed at him scoldingly, "First of all you never ask me if I know anything. Second of all you are ridiculous and sometimes her side is much more sympathetic than yours."

"Whatever I always take your side over Scorp's."

"Yeah, but you two aren't friends and I'm usually right anyway."

James shook his head. "Whatever."

"You're still my favorite." She said mockingly, tickling his side.

"HEY! STOP THAT!" He giggled angrily, "I'M 30 YEARS OLD! YOU DON'T TICKLE ME!"

Rose laughed evilly, "You may be 30, but you are barely an adult."

"Yeah? Well you have twigs in your hair."

"But see I can take the twigs out of my hair, you can't magically become an adult."

James moved on. "Where's the little man?"

"Damon's watching him today. He's taking him and Isabel to the zoo. Leo's really excited."

"I'm sure he is. I bet he'll want to go the reptile house like his father."

Rose smacked his arm hard. "Oy!"

"Fine…his grandfather."

"That's not very nice."

"Oh but I don't get a slap for that one?" James nodded approvingly. "I'm glad to see you have no illusions when it comes to Draco Malfoy."

Rose made a face. "It's more…I understand he is a reformed Death Eater, but he's not a reformed ass."

"That's lovely. Have you shared this thought with his son?"

"Nah, they barely get along. They go to a Quidditch match once a month and that's about it, but hey at least it's better than it was."

James said, "What about you?"

"What about me? I hung out with my dad yesterday, after covering a corpse up by Cardiff."

"How is he getting on with your guy? Warming any?"

"Nope." Rose chuckled, shaking her head. "He's a stubborn man my father, but I'm not concerned. As long as he keeps his opinions to himself in front of me I don't care about the rest."

"He just thinks you two should be married by now. Living in sin and all that."

"I know, but I think he could be a little more understanding. We didn't date long when I became pregnant and it's only been a year since he woke up. I don't want to just get married because we should. I want to get married because he wants to. Not because he feels pressured to do so."

"You two are basically married anyway…" James glanced at her. "You'd still like the title and the ring though wouldn't you...?"

Rose was about to shrug, but she couldn't lie to James. "I would, but it's his choice and until he's ready to make it i'm not going to pressure him. He lost three years of his life. If he wants to take it slow, then I'm not going to fight that."

"It's killing you to wait, isn't it?" James smirked knowingly.

"Yesss…but I waited three years for him to wake up and 24 years to fall in love with him." Rose sat up with a frown. "I think I can wait longer to marry him."

"That's beautiful." James mocked clutching his chest. "My heart swelled right up."

"Ohh get out of here!" Rose yelled, with a smile. "Go get back to your wife and atone for your sins."

James's face scrunched up, he stood up and looked at her. "That's a new way to congratulation someone on expecting a baby…"

"Really?...Really?"

He shrugged his hand in his pocket and his body tilted forward arrogantly. "You have to admit, that was a good one."

"Go home and owl me later. We still could be wrong you know."

"I don't know. It would be kind of nice to have a spawn. Someone to carry on the good looks, you know?"

"Marriage has given you QUITE an ego James Potter."

"Well from what I've heard about my namesakes I think I've earned it." He winked, "I'll see you later…you should probably go inside and shower."

Rose grimaced. "Do I have that many twigs in my hair?"

"Yes," He replied flippantly before apparating away.

Rose shook her head, but followed his advice regardless. She had worked the whole day before and turned in her last article for the evening so unless there was another murder somewhere she had the rest of the evening for herself. So she showered, put on a dress and danced around the house. She wasn't much for cleaning, the house wasn't dirty, but it wasn't nearly as clean as it was when Scorpius was home. It would have made her laugh if she did actually start doing some housework. Often she did work around the yard like she had growing up, but Scorpius was the one who kept up on things around the house. So eventually she grew tired and just sat back in the living room, with a good book.

She was half way through the third chapter when she heard a knock on the front door. Scorpius wouldn't knock to get into his own house, so it must have either been Damon dropping off Leo or one of her various relatives. Anyone else would have owled first before just dropping by. Yawning, Rose grabbed her wand and went to go answer the door when sure enough when she opened it she saw Scorpius standing there.

She smiled, but looked at him oddly. "Why did you knock? Did you forget your key?"

"Nope." He smirked.

"…okay…You're weird." She laughed, moving forward to kiss him hello.

In a flash his hands were around her waist and he turned that kiss into a full on snog. Surprised, Rose let out a gasp, her arms tightening against his neck. "Well hello…" She giggled. "Long mission?"

"I just missed you." He said hotly, lining kisses down the hollow of her neck. "What have you been up to?"

"Um…" She muttered trying to focus on what he was saying and not on what he was doing. "Nothing really. Just work and stuff."

"Have you thought anymore about that Barcelona vacation I suggested?" He murmured, his body pressing against hers, pining her body against the house.

Rose said, "Well yeah, but you have to give me a date so I can take off work."

"Hmmm…What about sometime next month?"

"If you can pick a specific date then it should be fine. Harvill will be off her maternity leave by then."

Scorpius pulled away, earning a groan from her. He smirked at her reaction, and held out his hand. "Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"As much as I'd love to get a look at that little star you have on your lower hip…" He brushed his lips against her forehead. "I wanted to talk to you about something."

Rose eyed him, "Okay…and that would be?"

He put his hand out again.

She took it. "Damon is bringing Leo back soon…"

"No he isn't."

"Okay, what the hell is going on?" Rose questioned, her eyebrows puckered together. "You are acting weird…"

Scorpius said, "No I'm not."

"Yes, you are." She replied, "But do you want to hear what Caroline's going to do for her birthday party?"

"…Oh no, what is it this time?"

"She wants to have an adult costume party." Rose snorted. "She was really into muggle fairytales. She wants to be Cinderella, James be the prince, me to be the Little Mermaid and Damon wants to be Prince Eric."

"He's the guy that gets with The Little Mermaid. In his defense he does look just like him."

"Ah huh." Scorpius said, "And who would I be?"

"…Damon wants you to be sleeping beauty…because you know you're blond…" Rose said lamely.

"I'm sure he does," Scorpius shook his head with a scoff. "I'll have a little chat with him. He is mad if he thinks I'm going to let him play your boyfriend."

"I think that's the whole point. Just to rile you up." Rose shrugged, walking with him down the rock trail. Her eyes narrowed when she looked up at the darkened path and saw lights ahead. "We didn't put lights down there…"

Scorpius kept his face neutral, though him fighting a smile.

"What is going on?"

"Just wait."

She sighed. "I have no patience."

"I'm fully aware of that and I also know you can be patient when you want to be. So just hold on a minute longer."

"Fine. But there better be chocolate or some sort of baked goods at the end of this walk." Rose said laying her head on his shoulder.

Scorpius kissed the top of her head. "I make no guarantee's."

"Fine, fine."

It was remarkable; Scorpius was in bed for three years. It was so long that the Healer's were positive he'd never wake up. There were people who woke up out of comas after five years so it wasn't impossible. It took him two months to get back to full strength, but eventually he made it through. It didn't matter how much time had passed since he woke up, every day she saw him was another day she was amazed that he was even alive. After everything he was okay, better than okay he was fine and she couldn't believe it. Maybe if he had woken up after three months it wouldn't have been so remarkable, but three years? Just looking at him, she never ceased to be amazed.

She hugged into his arm and sighed. But just as she was beginning to lose curiosity, the path opened up and there was a picnic bench there with an assortment of all of their favorite foods.

Rose swooned. "…you are my favorite. You are just my absolute favorite."

"Let's eat." He said guiding her to the table.

Rose dug in and ate as much as she could, when she finished eating though, she looked around in confusion wondering why he went out of his way to do this. She appreciated it and loved it, but she didn't understand why he made such a big deal out of it. They could have eaten all of this in the house…why were there flower pedals on the floor, why did he light up the entire path….why was he wearing his dress shirt and pants?

She didn't want to assume anything, but he said he wanted to talk so as soon as she finished the wine left in her glass she stared at him questioningly.

"So," she gestured, "What's going on?"

He smirked.

"Oh come on!" She groaned. "Why are you doing this to me? Just tell me. Did you get a promotion? Are you pregnant?"

"Yes. I'm pregnant."

Rose moaned. "Scorp!"

"Fine," He said, reaching forward and taking her hand. "So…we've been together a while, right?"

"Yeah…"

"And you know I love you."

She narrowed her eyes, "Ah huh."

"So I just wanted to ask if you'll do me a favor?"

"…Okay…?"

Scorpius grinned at her hesitation. "Do you remember when we first met?"

"What when we were 11?"

"We met before that." He said softly, "Remember I used to play Quidditch with Al and Damon, when we were little?"

She squinted, "Yeah."

"Well after our games sometimes we'd come back to Al's house and one time you were over playing with Albus, you were still in your Quidditch gear-"

"Yeah, yeah no... I remember." Rose said quickly, "I made my parents play me up a league so I could play with James."

"Well you were there…I don't really remember much else, but I remember seeing you."

She frowned, "You know, I thought we met at Hogwarts…"

"I thought so too, until I found this." He reached into his pocket and handed her a picture.

It was of them, James, Albus and Damon. They were so little they were on the brooms that only went a few feet off the ground.

Laughing, Rose covered her mouth, "We were so cute!"

"And Al also found a few more pictures when he was looking through his stuff."

Rose frowned and took the pictures. There were a few more of the group playing Quidditch, but then there were pictures of them from when they were fifteen, sixteen and seventeen. Sometimes they were in their muggle clothes in their common room, but Albus somehow had gotten some pictures of them at prefect meetings over the years. The last one picture though, she didn't even remember taking. It wasn't shocking because she took pictures with practically everyone at graduation, but she didn't remember taking one with him. They both were smiling; though Rose could see they were standing a bit farther than she was with anyone else. Clearly she had still been awkward about what had happened between them, but it was nothing compared to the small smirk on his face.

"You look arrogant as fuck in this picture." Rose snorted, with a shake of her head. "Look at your face."

"Well remember what happened the night before?"

Blushing she nodded, "Yes. I do."

There were a few more pictures in the pile, but they were all from the past few years. One was from when he first week she was at work with him, she could see the irritation on her own face.

"Awww." Rose smiled, "I hated you so much!"

"Why does that get an 'Aw,?"

"Because you deserved it."

Rose stopped at one picture, it was right behind a group picture of all of them at dinner. It was when they were still pretending to be together, but Rose noticed that if she didn't know better she would have thought it was a legitimate thing by they way his hand was curled around the back of her chair, and the way she rested back against him.

"No wonder James believed us…"

Scorpius said nothing.

She looked few the last few and went back to one. It was taken a month after he woke up from his coma. He was still a little weak, but still he had insisted he was strong enough for her lay against them. Judging by the background they were at her parents house, and in the distance Rose could Leo playing with Hugo on the floor.

"I didn't realize Al took all of these…"

"He didn't. Some of those were Caroline's, James's or your mother's."

Rose glanced up because he sounded like he had moved closer. She smiled, but that expression froze on her face when she saw he was on his knee right next to her with a ringbox in his hand.

"Oh…" She breathed, her jaw dropping.

"I know I don't have to do this because we are basically married already, but I'd like…" He took a second, looking down before returning his gaze to her. "I'd like to make it official. I want you to be my wife and if you'd like that to-"

"Yes."

Scorpius grinned, laughing slightly. "You're not going to let me do a speech are you?"

"You can." She shook her head, her face flushed. "You just don't have to."

"That's why I want to. You've never made me do anything I didn't want to, well except for spending time with your father, but I understand your point for that…Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that I love you and that even if we didn't have Leo and I never was in that coma…I'd still want this. I'd want you, forever and I'd want there to be a symbol of it on both of our fingers. Because we are connected in every other way that matters and I want to be as binded to you as humanly possible."

"Binded?"

"…shite…" He grumbled, "I didn't mean…I buggered it up, didn't I?"

"No!" She laughed, "It was just an odd choice of words. You are doing wonderful."

Scorpius took her hands and kissed them. "So will you?"

"Ah huh," She mumbled, stooping to peck him on the lips. "Now let me see what ring Lily picked out for me."

"How did-?"

"Are you kidding me? My cousin would kill you if you didn't ask for her assistance."

He opened the box, took out the ring and slipped it onto her left hand, second finger from the left.

"I never thought I'd like seeing a ring there…" She admitted in a quiet voice.

"Does it fit?"

"Yes, it fits." She marveled at it for a few minutes before wrapping her arms around Scorpius and knocking him clear onto the ground. Rose then proceeded to snog the life out of him.

Scorpius reacted instantly, his hands slipping down her back, gripping her tightly. Pulling away for a moment, he grinned deliriously. "Want to go inside?"

"How long is Damon taking Leo?"

"All night."

"Let's go." Rose rolled off of him and helped him up off the ground.

"Okay Rose…Malfoy."

"You know I'm keeping my last name."

"Yes but that disgusted look on your face was worth it." He snickered wrapping his arm around her securely.

"Wanker." She grumbled under her breath.