10 YEARS LATER

Scorpious' mother liked to dote on me. Sometimes much more than she doted on her own son. She treated me like the daughter she never had and whilst I was glad she liked me so much, it drove Scorpious mad. And made him partially jealous, not that he'd admit it to me. I'd been invited round to the manor for brunch with his mother, without Scorpious knowing anything about it.

"Mrs Malfoy?" I called out, stepping out of the fireplace and looking for the older woman. Dusting myself off I set off down the corridor, waiting for her to respond.

"I'm in here dear," she answered and I followed her voice to the dining room.

Mrs Malfoy was already waiting for me, putting down two empty tea cups. Hearing the sound of my footsteps, she looked up at me with a smile and gestured for me to take a seat across from her. She sat down as I made my way to the table. Putting my bag on the floor, I sat down across from her, crossing my legs.

"How was work?" She asked, "I hope you don't mind that I owled your boss to ask for you to get time off? It's just that you're so busy that I rarely get to see you."

"Why would I mind?" I asked, picking the tea pot and pouring some tea into both cups. "The department was very busy today and frankly I'm glad to be out of there for a little while."

"That's good." Mrs Malfoy smiled, speaking with a laugh, as I stirred some sugar into my tea. "If you ever need some time off just remind your boss that your mother-in-law is her best friend and I won't be happy if she make you work too hard."

"She reminds me of that enough already." I raised my cup to my lips, smiling at the older witch. "She's encouraging me to take some time off."

"I would encourage you to do the same." She admitted, offering me a plate of eggs to go with the toast I'd picked up.

Making a face at the eggs I shook my head, already trying not to gag at the mere sight of them. "Even the sight of eggs has been turning my stomach lately."

Before I could say another word, she had summoned one of the house elves and taken the eggs away from the table. My comment had her positively beaming.

"Is there anything else you've been wanting to eat?" She asked when I looked across the already plentiful table.

I went to answer her when a voice called out in pure annoyance from the hallway.

"Mother!" Scorpious called out, followed by the sound of approaching footsteps. "What have I told you about abducting my wife without telling me anything?"

Walking into the room Scorpious sat down in the seat beside me, leaning over to press a kiss to my cheek. He helped himself to a cup of tea.

"How did you know I was here?" I asked, looking up at him.

"I dropped by your work to see you but you weren't there so I thought you might have felt ill and gone home early." He narrowed his eyes at his mum. "You weren't home so I figured you'd be here."

"Well maybe I wouldn't have to abduct my daughter-in-law so often if you lived here."

Understanding dawned on me and I shared a look with Scorpious. We should have seen it coming. Straightening up in my seat I cleared my throat uncomfortably.

"Really Mum." Scorpious shook his head, "You can't just spring something like this on us."

"I'm not springing anything on you," she insisted. "At the end of the day it's still your decision. But your father and I do think it's a good idea for the two of you to move back into the manor."

"Mum –"

"Just think about it for a minute, she's going through a really important and scary time right now. You both need someone to help you."

"Mrs Malfoy –"

"Sweetheart, the first pregnancy can be a scary one and you need someone." She leaned across the table to take a hold of one of my hands with both of hers. "Your own mother's not near enough for you to be able to contact her if something happens and well you're my daughter as well."

"Don't try and guilt her into this mother," Scorpious interjected, releasing my hand from his mother's hold. Setting a hand on my stomach, I turned to face him. "I don't think we should move back in."

"Scorpious," I said gently, making him turn to look at me. He started at my tone and turned to face me, his expressing freezing at the sight of my puppy dog eyes.

"You cannot be serious about this."

"It makes sense. Your mum has a point." I shrugged. "Besides, it's a tradition."

"That's perfect!" Mrs Malfoy clapped her hands enthusiastically. "I'll have your old room made up again and then when you've moved in we can talk about getting the nursery sorted out again."

Scorpious tuned out of his mother's ramblings to set a hand on top of the one I had on my stomach. He squeezed my hand, looking down at our two hands.

"Are you sure about this?"

I nodded with a small smile. "I am."