I liked to imagine the proposal between my parents. I never knew how it would have happened because Papa hated talking about Daddy, but I liked to think it was sweet and loving. All I knew was that he proposed on the anniversary of Uncle Sev and Uncle Remus' wedding.

I've dreamt of it before. I imagined Papa down on one knee, with Dad in shock. Of course, my dad knew it was going to happen, since they were so madly in love with each other, but Papa's timing was just right, in my head at least. I like to think Dad didn't have to think for very long. He had made up his mind the moment he saw Papa bow done. Uncle Remus had given him the ring-it had been a gift from Sirius Black, and that wasn't my imagination. That one was real. Papa used to wear the ring on a necklace after Dad's death. Uncle Sev had gone in to get it and that was how they discovered he was a spy. Papa's body was never retrieved, so I could never wear it. I really wanted to, though.

It would have been so beautiful if Dad had woken up to see the ring on the pillow next to him. I had seen that in a movie once and had instantly wondered if that was how Papa did it. Now that I've met them when they were younger, I could see that happening. Papa seemed to be the type of person who would do things that way. I thoroughly doubt he would have baked it into a muffin or put it in Dad's food. It's far too cliché, and Dad would probably sulk about getting the ring so dirty and covered in saliva if he truly had put it in his mouth. And then you get those strange Muggles who propose during massive sporting events or on the radio or with those signs on the back of aeroplanes, but Papa wouldn't do something that extravagant. He'd want something personal and intimate.

He could have always done it after making love, which is a way I could see my dad appreciating. I know how much they love each other and the idea of that would suit them just fine.

I wonder if it would be any different this time around.

I was hoping to catch the proposal this time, just to see if it happened the way I wanted it to. I really, really did.

-

It didn't take him long to recover after he woke up. Now that he was awake, Poppy could help him even more, focusing on where it hurt most or where it didn't feel right. When he found out about the permanent limp, he had originally cried, but was reassured that things would get better. He would learn how to live with his disability.

Scorpius was overly relieved to see both his parents, though, and it shocked him to see his grandmother watching over him as he woke up. He had cried himself dry; clinging on to her, until Draco gently pried him off her. When Scorpius had seen who had grabbed him, it made him cry even harder as it all overwhelmed him. In a few years, he was going to be born and he would be given the life he had always wanted.

That also meant that Scorpius had to go back soon.

It took him three days to be up and walking, albeit with a cane. Lucius had given him his own, having gotten it strengthened just for him. Of course, this had the Malfoy heir crying again.

That third day was also the day Ginny woke. The spell cast on her body was enough to keep her from moving, and it also prevented any emotional stress the news would have brought upon her. The Weasleys were overly thankful for that. From her position on the bed, she could see Fred's limp out of the corner of her eye, and had dared to ask where Charlie was. It was George who explained it, but her reaction was beyond them. The spell keeping her calm stopped her from feeling the emotions she should have been feeling. It irked them, even though they knew about the spell.

By Scorpius' fifth day awake, he had decided that he had to leave. He knew he had to do this. His job had been done. And while others fussed about Dean and his first full moon since the incident, Scorpius was getting to know his parents and his grandparents as much as he possibly could before going back to the hell that was his life. He could only hope that the changes he had made in this time would reflect in his own time. It would be heaven for him to go back to his own time only to find his dad there with him.

It was hard to say goodbye to his loved ones. Harry and Draco had been so wonderful to him. They had loved him with everything they had and did everything they could to be good parents.

He decided he would leave the day after Severus and Remus married, which was six days after his woke up.

They hadn't wanted anything big. The two of them were happy with a wedding between the two of them and the ones they considered family. So, they headed down to Hogsmeade with Draco, Harry and Scorpius to the church there. Although witches and wizards were against the church, as were homosexuals, churches were still used for weddings between the magical and the gay. In the wizarding world, a marriage between two men or two women was seen to be exactly the same as a Muggle heterosexual marriage. It was still legally binding and the couple was allowed to adopt as many children as they liked.

In their best dress robes (Severus was more than a little miffed that Remus was wearing the same robes as he had worn to James and Lily's wedding), they stood in front of a minister so that he could declare them husbands. Naturally, he was a wizard given the right to wed same-sex couples from the Ministry of Magic. However, he still donned the priestly clothes and swore them under the Catholic god.

They had forgone the wedding party. They didn't need anyone else up there with them. Scorpius had originally volunteered to be the page boy, but that didn't work out as much as he had wanted. Rather than carrying the rings up to his 'uncles', he ended up stumbling and falling into his dad's lap as he suggested it. They didn't say any vows, didn't want there to be photos taken and didn't want a reception. It was just the ceremony, which was nothing more than them repeating what the minister said. They signed the marriage certificate and that was it. They were husbands, wearing matching rings for all to see.

Scorpius had held back his tears when he saw his parents sitting on the pew next to him. They were holding hands with very shy smiles on their faces. Draco's cheeks were painted pink, which shocked Scorpius. He was certain his dad was the more forward of the two when it came up to their relationship.

Severus and Remus then excused themselves for their honeymoon, taking time away from Hogwarts for as little as two weeks. They didn't want to stick around. Everything was just so overwhelming, and knew that Hogwarts was needed for those mourning and recovering.

Even in Scorpius' time, Severus wasn't very emotional. He kept to himself and hardly ever sought out an embrace from the teen. However, before he and Remus took off, he had grabbed the shorter man into his arms, holding him close.

"Thank you, for everything you've done," he muttered into the patch of blonde hair just below his chin. "I hope everything's alright in your time when you go back. Don't hesitate to give us a message. Even if you have to steal something from this time to send it back, I want to know that you're alright, okay?"

"I wouldn't expect anything else from you, Uncle Sev," Scorpius replied, one arm returning the hug. The other was firmly placed on the cane.

The small family made their way back to Hogwarts without the newlyweds, only to be ambushed by Julius and Crispin at the front door.

"We heard you're planning on leaving us soon," Crispin announced, his eyes on Scorpius. For that, Scorpius was thankful. He'd much rather Crispin's eyes on him rather than Julius' real and magical eyes. As it turned out, Fred and George made him an eye very similar to Moody's. It didn't swivel, but it allowed him to see things different. They had Poppy connect it properly and Julius was using the x-ray vision of it the very next day. He could do that, zoom in as if it was a camera and see through Glamours as if they were nothing. However, he couldn't do more than one at the one time.

"Yeah...do you really think returning to your papa in that state would be the best idea?" Julius asked, looking at Scorpius' knee. He cringed before he looked up at Scorpius' face. "This is so strange...I can see why you need that there cane."

Scorpius frowned. "Yeah, well, I need to get back to my proper time. I don't belong here. And how the hell are you supposed to head back to your family looking like that?" He motioned towards the fake eye.

"My little sister hates it already," he grinned toothily. "I can't stop thanking the twins. They are amazing. It hurts my head a little to think that Professor Lupin is one of the Marauders. It just about kills me to think that he just married Professor Snape, too."

Crispin gave him a wry smile. "He's not homophobic; just a little disappointed."

"The Marauders were supposed to marry the most gorgeous, sexy women around. Professor Snape doesn't qualify for any of those three options."

Scorpius' frown deepened. "You do realise that I'm a grandson of one of the Marauders, right? I don't want to think that sort of stuff about my grandmother."

That had Harry glaring at the young Slytherin. "I don't want to hear you saying that about my mother, either."

The two quickly 'yes sir'ed without question. The last thing you did was piss off the killer of the greatest Dark Lord known to mankind.

Harry eyed Crispin. The twins had told him why the young Slytherin had been so distraught over the state of his best friend. He was hoping that everything would work out alright for the two of them, but from what Crispin had said, Julius was one to follow skirts. The other boy would never feel the same for Crispin, and from the look Crispin was giving Julius at that moment, the boy's prior statement had stung. The fact that Julius wanted the Marauders to marry women had hurt Crispin.

"What's wrong?" Julius asked, his eyes on Harry. He turned to his right to look at Crispin. "Are you okay?"

Crispin blinked a few times before he answered. "Yeah...why?"

"You were getting looked at pretty strangely, that's all. I was worried there was something wrong with you. Did you get yourself checked out at the medical wing like I asked you to?"

"I did that right after the battle, Julius, just like I told you."

Julius didn't seem too convinced.

"Why? Is he having problems?" Harry asked with concern.

"He's been overly depressed," Julius told him, despite Crispin's objection. "He doesn't smile anymore and it's driving me nuts. He used to smile and laugh and joke all the time, but he's been so damn down since that battle...I'm worried he was cursed or something. Or worse-he could have been on You-Know-Who's side all along and is depressed that he lost..."

"It's not that," Crispin snapped hatefully. "It's definitely not that."

That had Julius stepping up closer to the other boy. "But there's something wrong? I knew it...why are you keeping this from me...? What did Pomfrey say about it? Is there a cure? Will it wear off or...?"

"It's nothing, Julius." Crispin stepped back, shaking his head. "I haven't been cursed..."

"Then what's wrong?" The words were shouted, shocking the four of them. Julius moved forward again, grabbing Crispin's shoulders. "You're hiding something and I'm scared out of my mind that it's hurting you and that it'll take you away from me and I don't want to be away from you ever...the last time you told me you were fine, you nearly lost a finger because of an infection, so I don't really trust you word when you say you're fine because you're not. You're my best friend..."

Crispin shrugged off Julius' hands, surprising the small family that was watching them. They got the sudden urge to run away, actually. "That's what's wrong, Julius!" he exclaimed with frustration, stung by Julius' words. His entire face was red. "We're best friends. I don't want that..."

"Excuse me? What? I lose my eye and I'm suddenly not good enough to be your friend anymore? You little shit..."

His words were cut off short when Crispin closed the distance between them with a single step and crushed their lips together clumsily. It only lasted for a couple of seconds, but it got the message through. "That's what's wrong with me. I want to be more than just best friends," Crispin explained softly when he pulled away from his friend. He took a few sheepish steps back, his head lowered, and refused to make eye contact.

"Crispin..."

"No...you got yourself hurt in that fight and you acted as if everything was fine...I was going out of my mind with worry, Julius. I was terrified I was going to lose more than just my friend. I thought I was losing the person I lo-liked and it scared me. You have no idea what that's like. So there; that's what's wrong with me."

"I don't know how to react to this, buddy," Julius admitted, running a hand through his hair. "I mean, it's not every day your best friend admits to liking you that way, you know?"

"Yeah, I know. Just...we're still best friends, though, aren't we?"

"Of course...but don't kiss me again until I can get this all figured out, okay?" Crispin nodded his head quickly, his face as red as Julius had ever seen it. "Wow, this really explains the whole Annette thing, doesn't it?"

"I can't believe you thought I was jealous of you, you wanker," Crispin hissed.

"Well, I didn't expect you to be a closet case crushing on me."

Draco came out of nowhere, his arm wrapping around Crispin's shoulders. "I can help you find a boy if you want to."

"Draco," Harry grumbled, objecting to his lover's words. "Just because he's interested in Julius doesn't mean he's fully crossed that line."'

The blonde stuck his tongue out at Harry before he grinned at Crispin. "You're on this side, aren't you?"

"I don't think so," Crispin argued, his face getting redder and redder. Julius' face also started to darken. "Julius is really the only guy I've been attracted to."

"And what is it that you like about him?"

"Draco, leave him alone. I'm sure he doesn't want to have this conversation in front of us and Julius," Harry tried again, receiving a thankful look from the trapped Slytherin.

"Is it the fact that he has absolutely no breasts to speak of, or is it a lot lower than that?"

"Dad!" This time, Scorpius tried.

When Draco continued, Harry whipped out his wand and forced his silence through a spell. "Sorry about that," he said to Crispin as he physically pried his lover off the boy. "I think he's trying to find a distraction since Scorpius' is leaving."

Draco punched his arm lightly for that before he hugged the Gryffindor, tears shining in his eyes. He really didn't want Scorpius to leave them just yet, if ever. The child had changed his life since the moment he had arrived.

And it was completely true. It was because of Scorpius that Harry and Draco had gotten close, even before Draco knew that Harry was to be Scorpius' father. Their friendship had begun once Draco had changed sides, and he originally did that for Scorpius' sake.

-

It didn't take long for Scorpius to clean up after he finished preparing the potion he would drink to send him back to his time. His parents had watched his every move while he was making it. They were trying to get in as much time with him as possible.

"You know, I am gonna be born in a few years," Scorpius said softly as Draco pulled him into a tight embrace. "You can wait that long, right? It has to be the same as it was in my time. You'll meet my mother the same way and you'll know that she's the one who'll carry me and Lily. When I get home, I'll take care of everything. Maybe, you'll be alive, Dad. I'll get to live the way I wanted to."

"You can stay as long as you like, Scorpius," Draco objected weakly. "You can stay here until you're properly born. We don't mind."

Scorpius laughed in his dad's shoulder. "You'll mind," he claimed. "Pretty soon, the two of you will want your private time and things just can't happen if I'm always around."

"I'm sure you're old enough to know that you aren't to open the door if you can hear the bedsprings."

"Dad!"

Harry chuckled at his future-husband's antics before he ruffled Scorpius' hair. "He has a point," he agreed with Draco. "You're welcome here for as long as you want to be here."

"That's not fair to me or to...me, I suppose." Scorpius stepped away from his dad before elaborating. "You two have this image of me from what you know of this me. For all we know, the other me will turn out to be completely different because of the different circumstances in his life." He shook his head. It certainly was weird to speak about himself in such a manner. "I mean, the kid you two raise will be a baby. You'll have a new born to deal with, and that's not the easiest thing, I can imagine. It's not as if I'm going to start out like how I am today..."

"We're well aware of that, Scorp," Draco told him. "We just don't want you to leave us."

"Well...I have to go back. Otherwise, you two won't have that time to just be a couple. You'll go straight from falling in love to being parents and that's not the smart thing to do. And I really need to get back to see if everything's alright in my own time. I want to see if the both of you are alive because of what happened here. I need to see."

Harry grabbed his son this time, holding him close to his chest. "Fine," he said, ignoring Draco's squeak of disapproval. "But make a potion now so you can come back if things didn't work out properly, okay? We'll make random potions and store them in a place you can get them from, just in case. We won't remove them so you'll always have them in the future. Is that a good idea?"

"And where would that be?"

"My room in the Manor," Draco said. "You do live in the Manor, don't you?"

"Yeah, we do."

"Then I'll put them on top of the bookshelf."

Scorpius couldn't help but grin at that. "You mean Papa will put them on top. You won't be able to reach."

He received a thump from Draco for that. "Yes, well, your papa can do it." Just to spite him, Harry deliberately bent his head low to brush his lips against Draco's cheek. "Piss off."

The two taller teens smiled at each other before Harry wrapped his arms around Draco's chest from behind, resting his head on Draco's shoulder.

"Papa?"

"Hmm?"

"Can I ask you something in private?" Scorpius asked, almost sheepishly.

Harry nodded his head without question and released Draco so that the blonde could exit the room. The look he gave him told Harry that Draco expected to know what was going on the moment they could get their own private moment together.

When Draco closed the door behind him, Scorpius sat up on one of the desks, looking at his papa expectantly, even though he hadn't asked the question yet. Harry sat himself opposite his son, waiting for the boy to ask him what he wanted.

"You intend on proposing to Dad, right?"

"Of course," Harry grinned, a slight blush tinging his nose and cheeks. "In due time, of course. We're only seventeen at the moment, so that's a little extreme right now; even though we do know it's going to happen, it's much too early to do something like that."

"How are you going to do it?"

Harry raised an eyebrow at the inquiry. It certainly was a strange one. "I don't know...I haven't thought of that just yet. Why?"

"Because I've always had this image in my head of how you would have done it, but since we never really talked about these sorts of things, I never knew what you'd do."

That had Harry lowering his head. "I'm sorry for how our relationship was like, Scorpius. I really am. I can't imagine that being me. I've always wanted a family and to think I'd treat my own son as coldly as you say I did really confuses me. I like the idea of us getting along..."

"You couldn't handle Dad's death," Scorpius told him with a heavy sigh. "It just about killed you on the inside. And you also lost Lily, Papa. Your daughter died..."

"You lost everything, Scorpius," Harry argued. "You lost your dad, your sister and your papa...you're so young and yet you act like an adult and you've lost everything you've ever loved. I don't know how you've lived through it all. I would have killed myself a long time ago if I was you."

He paused, seeing Scorpius' tears.

"I coped somehow and I got here and it's enough. I can go back to my time happily, knowing that you and Dad really love me and that you didn't hate me for looking like Dad. I understand how hard it was for you, but it's okay. I have better memories of the two of you now and I know that in five years, I'm going to be born again and that version of me is going to have the most amazing life ever. That Scorpius will know love and happiness and that protective streak all older brothers have for their little sisters. It's going to be alright now."

The Gryffindor stood and hugged his son close to his chest. "We're going to love both versions of you for the rest of our lives, Scorpius. No matter which timeline you're in, or which timeline we're in, we'll always love you. The Harry Potter who raised you loves you as much as this one does and nothing will ever change that."

Harry wiped Scorpius' tears from his eyes. "And I love you, too," Scorpius whispered. "You and the future you and every other you in existence."

A sure hand moved through Scorpius' hair. "I reckon it'd be on one knee," Harry admitted to Scorpius, which had the blonde laughing weakly.

"I figured as much."

-

They had gone up to Albus' office to send Scorpius off. He wanted to go back to where he had left, hoping to find everyone alive.

"You're leaving?" Albus asked, standing as the three teens filled his office.

Scorpius nodded his head wordlessly and checked to see if he had everything. He was trying his hardest to ignore his parents, but it certainly wasn't easy. The last thing he wanted to do was leave them, but he had to know how things had turned out in his real time. He didn't belong there; he wasn't even born, technically. With that being the foremost thought in his mind, he had to return.

"I have everything," he announced, turning towards his parents. He gave them both hugs and kisses, but tried not to linger so that he didn't have any time to change his mind. "I love you both so much."

"Love you too," Harry muttered, kissing his son's temple and Draco did the same.

With a teary wave, Scorpius reached into his pouch and pulled out a vial. He downed it in one breath and was gone.