Warning for Lily's potty mouth in this chapter. Jesus, this chapter is long.

Prompt: "Pavement"

Lily Potter was having the Week From Hell; for the last month, she'd been planning a business trip—she'd been offered a chance to travel to Africa to help work in understaffed hospitals there. She knew how badly they could use any help, so she accepted after several long discussions with co-workers, family, and friends. Because of his work, Scorpius wouldn't be travelling with her, and because of her schedule, it looked extremely doubtable they would get to meet up a lot. That would be the only down point to the whole trip in Lily's mind. But, either way, at the end of the week, she would travel by multiple port keys to her destination and it would be another month until she came home.

Preparations for the trip had eaten up most of the week, a thousand little details springing out of the woodwork to keep her running about. First it was a problem with getting working visas, arguing with people about housing, and then her family and friends constantly dropping in on her just when she thought she could have a moment to breath. And she hadn't had a smoke in over a week—she had hoped that Scorpius would have noticed, but even he seem caught up in some project. She hadn't had a moment alone with him in for most of the week actually.

She pouted as she slipped her heels back on—performing rounds around the hospital was not something one did in stiletto shoes. I'll just have to tell him then. If I can't get him to make an opening, I'll have to make one myself. That wouldn't be too hard—they had champagne at the flat…somewhere. She could just pour him a glass, make a point to neglect to give herself one, and he'd ask about it, and then she'd have him. Mentally patting herself on the back, she turned and pulled on her coat as she headed for the door.

To her surprise and delight, as she walked towards the fireplace in the lobby, she found Scorpius waiting in one of the plastic chairs next to it. She called to him, hurrying as fast as her heels would let her as he stood up and grinned at her.

"Evening," he greeted her warmly before bending to kiss her cheek. "I forgot how uncomfortable these chairs are."

"Evening yourself," she grinned, linking her fingers behind his neck. "To what do I owe the visit?"

"Oh, what, I'm not allowed to pick you up from work?"

"Well, you see, it'd be rather unfortunate if you walked in on me and one of my many lovers, so no, you can't," she teased.

"I knew you were up to something," he snickered before they kissed each other. "C'mon then, let's go home."

"Sounds like a fabulous idea," Lily sighed. "My feet are killing me—oh, hey, do you remember where that bottle of champagne is?"

Scorpius paused as he grabbed a pinch of Floo powder. "It's in the back of the fridge—why?"

"Oh, just thinking I'd like to crack it open when we get home." Finally, something goes right. She'd just grab the bottle and some glasses as she took a shower and she'd have her chance.

He smiled and entered the fireplace as he tossed the powder.

She reached up for a pinch of her own powder, tossed it while she called out her address. She ducked out of the hearth, brushing the soot off her pants, already psyching herself up for confronting him.

And then she nearly jumped out of her skin when the all the lights suddenly came on and nearly everyone in her acquaintance—except those co-workers still at work from the hospital she noticed—jumped out from behind furniture and doorways, all screaming "Surprise!" All of the faces were grinning warmly, eagerly pushing forward to see her reaction.

She paused, her hands uselessly gripping and un-gripping into fists. One thing to go right, is that so much to ask? One night alone with my husband, that's all I wanted.

She glanced to the side to see Scorpius looking puzzled at her.

She glared, turned on the spot and Apparated away.

"God FUCKING dammit!"

Lily took great satisfaction as she kicked the trash bin with all the force nearly two dozen years of football practice kicked in (she'd played ever since she was two when Harry had bought her a ball at the market one day while grocery shopping). It was so satisfying she kicked it again, and again, and again. Until finally it fell over and its contents spilled out; glaring at the litter, she kicked the bottom of the bin.

"Fuck. Just—fuck it," she grumbled, starting to pace.

For Apparation, one needed to picture a place clearly before teleporting—she nearly hadn't bothered to try and pick a place, but lucky her common sense had kicked in before she vanished. She randomly picked a street that wasn't terribly far from the flat—mainly because it'd throw everyone off. They were probably checking the hospital, or her favorite bars, or their own houses, expecting her to be hiding in places they wouldn't think of. She'd almost thought about going just to the roof, but that would have been a little too close.

"Fuck," she groaned, letting herself sag against a nearby wall. "Fucking hell."

They'll all think I lost my mind.

"Is it so much to ask for one night alone? Is it?" she the cloudy night sky. She sighed. "Merlin, what I'd give for a cigarette…"

To her surprise—well, she wasn't that shocked, but still—a hand offering a cigarette appeared in front of her face. Groaning, she looked to her side.

Rose smiled gently at her. "I believe this is what your looking for?"

Lily glanced between her cousin and the cigarette for a moment before taking it, although she didn't light up. Instead she let it rest in her hand against her thigh. "How mad is everyone?"

"Try confused—although I suspect your mother's going to have some choice words for you when you get back," Rose answered matter-of-factly, joining her cousin with leaning against the wall. "May I ask what prompted you to leave to come beat the piss out of a trash bin?"

Lily winced and looked guiltily at the busted in bin. "It offended me?"

"Glad to see you can defend yourself from trash receptacles then. I'll be able to sleep easier at night knowing that over in Africa I won't have to worry about you being helpless from them."

In spite of herself, Lily chuckled a tiny bit and then sighed. "I…I'm a bitch."

"Some of us might disagree."

Lily almost smiled but her muscles didn't seem to want to obey. "Well, I'd have to tell you that you're wrong."

"Perhaps we can debate that another day—the question is, why do you think you're a bitch?"

Lily avoided Rose's piercing gaze, letting her eyes fall to the toes of her shoes. "I just ran out on my own surprise farewell party. Isn't that enough—oh, god, that's why Scorpius has been so busy lately!" She groaned and slapped a hand to her forehead. "Merlin, I am such a bitch."

"That's nice. Now, why did you walk out on the party? I'll have you know, I was planning on getting Albus so trashed he wouldn't notice taking pictures of him as he flirted outrageously with Menthe until she'd turn so red he ask her who hexed her face red again."

Lily stared at her cousin. "…why were you going to do that?"

"Counter blackmail. Now, why did you walk out?"

Lily almost started to insist on asking why Albus had blackmail on her, and then stopped. There was some things she just didn't want to know. "I—I…do you think I would sound completely selfish and bitchy if I said that I just wanted one night alone with Scorpius?" Rose cocked her head at her and suddenly Lily felt the overwhelming urge to explain everything—tactile Rose at least would be fair when judging her. Hell, it was one of the reasons everyone encouraged her dream of one day entering the Wizengamot. "One fucking night, that's all I wanted! We haven't had a chance to fucking talk in over a week, I'm leaving tomorrow, and I—I had a plan, you know. We were gonna come home, I would open a bottle of champagne and-" she froze.

Rose waited. "…and?"

Lily bit her lip. "I…I have something I wanted…to tell Scorpius before I left tomorrow."

Rose was perfectly blank. "You're pregnant, aren't you?"

Lily blanched. "I—fuck—is it that obvious?"

Her cousin shook her head. "No, but it explains some things. Some of the others were wondering if you were on your period, but looks like it's quite the opposite."

Lily ducked her head and tried to fight the blush raging on her face. "I—just wanted to tell him before I left. I've…been trying all week. I didn't want to not tell him, but…ah, fuck."

"Quite," Rose nodded, before turning her attention to the trash bin; she gave Lily a moment to collect her thoughts while she righted the bin, pulled out the dents, and then banished the litter back into it with her wand. "Do you know how far along you are?" Rose asked after she finished cleaning up the mess.

Lily frowned. "Five weeks, maybe six."

"Hmm," Rose hummed lightly, gazing up to the clouds. "Congratulations then. I won't say anything to anyone."

"Thanks," she murmured, smiling a bit. Then she too looked up to the clouds. "How did you find me anyway?"

"I didn't. Scorpius did."

Lily whipped her head around so fast her neck ached. "What?"

"He said he found you thrashing the trash bin, so he decided to get me to find out what was wrong."

Before she could stop herself, Lily laughed. "Merlin, that coward."

Rose smiled at her. "There's a reason why he was never put in Gryffindor."

Lily sighed. "So, he found you, and then went back to ask you to talk to me—he didn't tell anyone else where I was, did he?"

"Doubt it," Rose answered blandly. "He's hiding in your bedroom still, I'd guess."

Sheepishly, she reached for her wand and formed her patronus. "Find Scorpius and tell him 'Come back. We need to talk.'" Her golden eagle turned and flew in the direction of their apartment.

"I'll leave you two alone then," Rose said, straightening out before turning to her cousin. "Go easy on him, I'd prefer not to have come crying to me for the next month because he thought you left angry with him."

"He could try and bug Albus," Lily joked weakly.

"Albus will toss him out if he interrupts his and Menthe's time together."

"That's what you get for not having someone to use as an excuse," she giggled.

"I take after Uncle Charlie, I suppose," Rose chuckled. It was true; neither their uncle nor Rose would probably ever choose to get involved with others romantically. Neither was bothered by that at all, not in the least. Lily admired that strength it took to not need another person like she did.

Scorpius suddenly appeared down at the corner across the street. Rose waved once at him before turning back to Lily.

"Good night, Lily. I suppose the others and I'll see you tomorrow before you leave."

Lily winced. "Sorry about the no party thing."

"Make it up to everyone when you get back," Rose suggested then promptly disappeared.

After Rose disappeared, Lily's gaze fell onto Scorpius as he slowly made his way over, taking his time to approach her. It took a lot of nerve she rarely needed to continue meeting his stare as he finally came over, but she made herself keep looking.

"So," he began warily, stopping a good meter away. The distance hurt her worse than the guilt.

"So," she returned.

"What exactly happened back there?" he asked. "I would like to know the reason why I had to send everyone home, including some very grumpy relations of yours. Relations certain that I'd done something to upset you."

Lily flinched. "James again?"

"Along with your grandparents, your uncle Ron, and half your aunts. And my parents weren't much happier either."

"Shit, your parents were there?" Lily gaped.

"Well, mom was. Lyra too—dad really can't be allowed to spend a few hours with your Uncle Ron, and probably not a night with your mum."

Lily groaned and put a hand over her eyes before sighing. She let her hand drop to her thigh, almost making herself drop the cigarette she still had clamped in her other hand. She straightened and tossed it away—Scorpius looked confused as it fell into the bin that she had recently been kicking. "Take a walk with me?" she asked.

He frowned, but nodded. She turned and he began to follow but she quickly had to stop. "Hold on a sec-" she grunted, slipping off her high heels and transfiguring them into running shoes. She wasn't going to go walking for who knew how long in heels. Lacing the shoes up, she glanced up to see Scorpius' half amused look which he quickly smoothed back into practiced blankness.

She stood and joined him as they began to walk again. After a few minutes of awkward silence where she tried to work the courage to explain, he finally spoke. "Just how long do I have to wait before I find out why you ditched your own party that I worked my ass off to plan?"

She kept her eyes forward. "I'm…trying to think of how to put this," she grumbled then sighed. "Well…I'm leaving tomorrow-"

"Hence the party."

She glared at him, but he was impervious for once. "Did you want to know or not?"

"Fine—just—talk already."

"Then let me," she snapped, then hurried to talk again before he could. "I'm leaving tomorrow, for a whole month when we probably won't get to see each other often, and for the last week, we've spoken all of a dozen words to each other. I'd been hoping I'd finally get a chance to spend some time with you-"

"Salazar, do not tell me you just ran off because you were mad we weren't going to get a chance to talk?" Most people would have thought that was quite accusatory, but Lily couldn't help but smirk a bit. He actually did want to know, even if he was being rude about it.

She'd get back at him anyways. "No, let me finish."

"Well, go on then."

"Fine," she began. "I'm pregnant."

She kept walking even when he stopped dead behind her. She was nearly a meter away before she turned back to look at him. His look was utterly flabbergasted. She had to fight not to giggle as he tried to make sense of that statement. "Wait, what?"

"I'm pregnant," she repeated. "And, I was going to tell you later." He continued to stare. She sighed and grabbed his hand to get him walking again. "I had it all planned out, you see. I was going to take a quick shower, grab the bottle of champagne, and then, I was going to make a point to only pour you a glass-"

"-so I'd ask why you weren't drinking," he finished for her.

"Exactly. And when we got home…"

"That plan went down the drain," he muttered. "Fuck, are you hormonal?"

"Merlin, just because I'm pregnant, doesn't mean I wouldn't have gotten pissed anyways!" she snapped, but then forced herself from going on. "Just—just. You know, what? Here's a tip. Never, ever ask a pregnant woman is she's hormonal. Just like when they're PMS-ing. Just don't."

He looked very much like he wanted to say something, but thankfully he decided not to. He turned his face so he was looking forward again—that was more worrying to her then him retorting. After a moment though, he started to speak again. "Are…are you sure you're pregnant?"

"Yes. I checked as many ways as I know how—I even tried Muggle ways, you know."

Scorpius snorted and fell silent again.

He…still hasn't really reacted yet, Lily noted, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth.

"So…" he tried but didn't finish.

"So," she repeated, almost teasingly.

"Do yo—do you know if it's a boy or girl yet?" he blurted.

She stopped to stare at him; squashing down the urge to laugh, she tried to be as gentle as possible—besides she was the one to walk out on her own party, if he could look past that, she could be decent enough not to tease him. "No. I—no. I just found out a week ago, babe."

If he was aware of his own blunder, or her overlooking it, he failed to signal as much through his expression, although his fingers finally did curl around her own. They both began to walk again. "So…"

"Alright, cut it out with the 'So's already, that's the third time you've done that," she laughed, and she noticed he finally smiled—or rather smirked. "Well. Anyway. Can we at least pretend for the rest of the night that I didn't make a fool of myself, and let it go?"

"Fine. But," he began, pulling her to stop once more, "you're going to have to explain to everyone why you left."

She groaned. "Bless magic—if I had to hand write every note, my hand wouldn't un-cramp until I get back."

"Speaking of leaving. Should you be going to Africa if you're pregnant? What if you catch something that could-"

"After all the hell I went through for the past month, I am not cancelling now. I'll be careful," she promised. "And when I get back, you'll be just in time to help as I clean out my stomach with morning sickness."

"Oh bloody joy."

She laughed, feeling at last relieved from her guilty conscience. Smiling, she reached up and locked her fingers behind his neck. "Are we good now? Say yes, please."

He returned the smile and clasped his arms around her waist. "Yes. Yes, I'd say we are."

Rocking side to side gently, Lily chuckled. "You know, I seem to remember doing this before."

Scorpius smirked. "How about we just pick up where we left off, then. We still have that bottle of champagne waiting at home."

She let go of his neck and wrapped one of her arms around his before starting to walk back towards the apartment. "Better hope so. Uncle George has this thing where he considers alcohol communal property." She laughed as he grimaced, joining him in walking a little faster back home.