Go Ahead. Make My Day.

Scorpius let out a frustrated groan. He just didn't get it, why was Mairen being so obtuse? Sure, he could have phrased things nicer, but it wasn't that simple. The number of social rules he was planning on breaking for her was near-on scandalous, but he was planning on doing them anyway! It just didn't make sense to the pureblood, could their upbringings really have been so different? The lawyer answered his own rhetorical question a moment later. Yes, they could have. Scorpius thought briefly of Albus, of Jack, of Alexander. Muggle scientists could say whatever they wanted, but upraising did shape people more than the blonde was willing to think about. Could it be that such a concept, his truths, were simply uncomprehendible to his girlfriend? If so, the redhead would have a lot to learn, and Scorpius had better hope he was a decent teacher.

"I listened, okay? I did," the blonde announced, clearly exasperated, "your father is in that popular band, the Weird Sisters, right? I do remember, but it's not like you told me their blood status'." It was reassuring, at least, to hear that Mai was a half-blood. Not even a full half-blood either, but three quarters. Scorpius could deal with seven-eighths pure children. It wasn't ideal, but it was the best he could have hoped for after hearing that Mairen wasn't pure herself. And while many extremists wouldn't think so, most people would consider his children pure enough to call themselves so. After all, the general rule was that all four grandparents needed to be magical, and in accordance to Mai both of her parents were. In fact, the largest loss would be the removal of the Malfoy name from the extraordinarily exclusive Pure-Blood Directory.

"I do want-" the Malfoy stated to say, voice almost a shout, before cutting himself off and burying his head back into his hands. You, he'd been going to finish that sentence with you. Merlin, he needed some time to think. Months ago the blonde wouldn't have even considered marring someone less than four generations pure, and now here he was. Willing to openly admit his feelings for a half-blood.

Scorpius sat quietly, completely ignoring everything happening outside of his own head as Ana cast some spell at the two of them and informed them of the results. The ex-Slytherin didn't bother to listen for the results, well aware of what his own would be. His father had checked him for fertility years ago, making sure that another Malfoy son wouldn't be needed to continue the family line.

Mairen said something, to Scorpius or Ana the man wouldn't be able to tell you, before standing from her chair. The blonde lifted his head just soon enough to see his girlfriend stalk from the room, irritation in every line of her body. Irritation that Scorpius had put there. Irritation that Scorpius would not be able to soothe, not in this state, not until he got his own thoughts back in order.

Four. Days.

Four days later, she still hadn’t heard from him. Four days since he shoved away mid-kiss and had after her for not being what he needed. Or…wanted? She didn’t know. No letters, no asking her to meet him to work on the case or ‘work on the case.’ Mairen refused to accept the blame for their argument, whether or not she had some hand in it. Clearly she reacted quickly, but she couldn’t say that he had really made it easy for her to go along with things. He hadn’t stopped her leaving, either. He could easily have grabbed her like he did the first time.

Then again, how many times could she expect him to stop her leaving? How many times would she want to leave?

Dark circles she didn't bother to hide had bloomed under her eyes from late nights at libraries and reading in poor lighting until the building closed and she made her way home to her flat. It was amazing how much reading one could get done in three nights, even with a suspect interview on Friday morning. Reading would have to be dropped for the night if she wanted to be alert the next morning. She could imagine the possibility of saying something completely stupid or unhelpful right in front of him.

Mairen was probably lucky that he hadn’t asked her to talk to him, though. Honestly. Even her employer had noticed the sheer exhaustion that hovered over her like a cloud, keeping a far too attentive eye on the redhead throughout the day. Her only escape was the lunch break she should have been spending in his office, eating his sandwiches, and even sitting on his desk if allowed. Now, though, she was sitting at her desk, surrounded by the books she had checked out the night before.

Heaving a sigh, she dropped her head onto her forearms where they crossed on the top of the books. She didn’t have a right to be sad. She was the one who was supposed to feel betrayed. The one who had stormed out angrily. Her stomach growled, reminding her that she was cutting into her lunch hour. Standing, she scribbled a note and grabbed her things before heading out and tacking the note to the door so passersby would know she should return soon.

Running a tired hand through her hair, Mairen offered a ‘hello’ to the woman sitting at the floor’s main desk as she approached the lift. In a matter of minutes, she would be out of the Ministry and away from the potential of having to see him when he didn’t seem to want anything to do with her anymore.

It had been four days, and he'd finally summoned up the courage to talk to Mairen. It hadn't been easy, but now Scorpius was determined. Figuring out his thoughts had been the easy part, taking only a little over twenty four hours. He cared about Mai, and that was what mattered the most. Sure, he still wasn't happy about her blood status, but wasn't that what relationships were supposed to be about? Accepting the other's imperfections while appreciating the good?

It wasn't going to be easy. His father would almost certainly suggest "taking care of" the redhead, and Scorpius would have to talk him out of it. If that didn't work, then he'd have to threaten Draco with telling the authorities if he tried. His father would threaten to disown him, and would go ahead with too if Scorpius weren't his only male child. It would be difficult for Mairen as well, having in-laws that would rather she didn't exist. But they would deal, they had to.

During what the man knew to be Mairen's lunch break, the man headed for her office. Upon finding a note there instead of the witch herself, the blonde made a sharp pivot and strode quickly in the direction of the department's main desk. "Hey Martha, have you seen Mairen Tierney?" he asked the woman behind the desk, slightly breathless. The witch was a brilliant lady with a memory good enough to know the names and faces of everyone within the department, seemingly without effort.

"Why yes, just a few moments ago," Martha responded, "she was headed for the lifts." Taking off, Scorpius headed towards the elevators, throwing a few quick words of thanks over his shoulder. Rounding the corner the blonde spotted Mairen, easily recognizing her from her back alone.

"Mai," Scorpius called out, skidding to a halt beside her and latching into her left forearm, "we need to talk. We could go back to my office. Or we could go somewhere for lunch, you're probably hungry."

Eyes widening in surprise, Mairen jerked away from the hand that grabbed her. Upon realizing who it was, her arm relaxed in an attempt to appear like his holding her arm wasn't uncomfortable. It certainly wasn't normal, though. Not anymore. He had never come off as the tactile sort, but after they became what she could only term "official," he hadn't been so very distant. Now it was like her skin was on fire all over again, like the first time he had grasped her wrist and asked for her to listen.

Brows tugging together, Mairen turned her head back to stare at the lift doors as they opened. "I should get something to eat." She offered blandly, pulling her arm from his hold as she stepped into the elevator. "If you follow," she added after a moment, pressing the button to hold the doors open, "it had better not be to tell me you found someone else." Releasing the button, she gave him a wary once-over. He had just moments to decide, though she hoped he knew before he chose to approach her. After all, why else would he have taken four days?

Unless he had tried to find someone else and failed, thus returning to her. A chill ran down her spine and her gaze turned icy, directed at the wall of buttons rather than at the blond.

If he wanted to inform her that she would be rematched, Mairen was pretty sure she would actually slap him this time. She had wanted to, sort of, at their meeting. But now she just wanted to hear him say he wanted her. Mairen stiffened slightly, realizing that she had just considered accepting his desire to have her back even if she wasn't his first choice. That wasn't quite right. He wouldn't be forgiven if he had tried to find someone else. He would lose her. She would go through with the marriage, if only to avoid prison, but Mairen knew that love would never be possible after that. Instead, she wished it could be true that he had chosen her full-stop. If not, she could just as easily find out through a letter from the Ministry.

Of the two options he gave her, going out felt far safer, especially if he followed. If they wound up in his office, Mairen feared she wouldn't focus more than a few moments on the problem, instead thinking back to everything that had happened in that room. Going to a restaurant or takeaway place meant that a huge scene wasn't something either of them would feel comfortable with. Conversations would be more likely to remain civil and calm.

As the doors shut, she wrapped her arms around herself and focused on the floor. Maybe he just wanted to talk about the meeting in the morning.

Scorpius winced a little at Mairen's words. She couldn't really think that he was wanting to leave her, could she? That made no sense, after all the thought and effort he'd put into making sure that they would work, not be separated by anyone, even their own families. But then, it wasn't like Mairen knew what had been going on in his head for the past few days. For all she knew, he could've been planning how to tell her he didn't want to be with her anymore. Guilt struck the man like a curse to the chest. He shouldn't have waited. He shouldn't have been so cowardly, thinking only of himself and not what the beautiful woman before him had been going through.

Scorpius liked himself, he wouldn't be half as vain if he didn't, but there were times that he wished he was different. If he was different he would understand Mairen better, and what he would give to be able to do that. It felt like they were from completely different worlds most of the time, and perhaps they were, but that didn't mean Scorpius had to like it. He didn't need to understand everything about the witch, all the inner working of her mind, he just wanted to understand her enough to make her happy. It seemed that he wasn't very good at that.

As the elevator doors closed shut around them, the blonde wanted little more than to comfort the witch, explain what was going on inside his mind. He couldn't, though. Not only would verbalizing his feelings be extraordinarily difficult, Scorpius would never be able to force the words past his lips. Feelings, these kind of feelings, were still completely new to him. He had loved others before the redhead, of course, but never had he cared for someone so unlike himself. With his siblings a gesture and meaningful glance had always been enough, but clearly this was no longer the case.

"We'll need to set a date," the Malfoy said finally, attempting to quickly inform his girlfriend of his choice in the only way he could think of. It was hardly romantic, but he could work on getting better with that. "I was thinking March fourth, so we'll have the most time to plan and get things sorted. The weather is supposed to be nice too. If you'd rather a weekend, the first or the second would also work well," the man announced, before hesitantly adding, "but, of course, you get deciding vote. So whatever you want is fine with me."

There were a few moments of tense silence, or perhaps they were just tense for Scorpius. Either way, he broke the quiet a few short seconds later. "I know this really good Italian place just around the corner, if you'd like to go there," the man said, back to being confident and cool as ever in all the time it takes to slip on a hat.

The longer he kept quiet, the more Mairen just wanted to escape. To press the emergency button in front of her and get out on whatever floor, at whichever department the lift decided to stop. When he finally spoke, the ice of her stare fell away, leaving just a detached sort of expression in its wake. She tried to remind herself that Scorpius seemed to have trouble expressing himself – she, herself, wasn’t the best at it. But at least she actively tried to, even if she never quite got the words out. She was sure that he knew her stance regarding their relationship. It was difficult, though, to register the fact that, even alone in a lift – which he could easily have stopped if he wanted to, to make her listen – he couldn’t tell her exactly what he wanted.

Apparently, however, she would need to help pick a day for the wedding. Their wedding. Lifting the hand that could block him from view, Mairen pushed a piece of hair behind her ear and watched the floor. How was she supposed to respond to that? It wasn’t like she cared very much how their wedding went; she wasn’t even sure who she was supposed to invite. She had no idea what kind of dress she could possibly want, and certainly didn’t know what sort of vow she was supposed to say to him, now. Why couldn’t he just be upfront and say what he wanted?

For one so comfortable with speaking – even if just to express frustration with him – Mairen couldn’t quite find the words to explain how very confused she was. To make it worse, she was bone tired, and had somehow managed to learn all of these annoying facts and figures about the rules of Purebloods. Not that it really seemed to matter, considering his apparent choice. Surely he would end up pushing all of that information into her all over again. Or correcting her after she had tried so hard to understand. Surely that counted for something.

The hardest part was not knowing what he had been doing the past several days. Not knowing if he had gone to his parents to ask for help in finding someone else, or if he had gone to see them in order to ensure that he could keep her around. She didn’t want to assume that he had picked her from the start, but the majority of her mind – and, indeed, her heart – desperately hoped he had. Otherwise, what chance did they have?

Finally, when he spoke about where they should eat, she turned to look at him. Immediately, that familiar tug in her stomach told her that she was supposed to be standing far closer to him - if not touching him. It felt wrong, somehow, to be so distant, and Mairen had to stop herself from moving towards him.

“That’s fine,” she replied finally, ignoring the fact that he either accidentally chose correctly, or he remembered that Italian was her favorite. She didn’t want to wonder which was true. The tension she felt throughout her body had her questioning what, exactly, she looked like just then. Probably a mess, considering she hadn’t bothered to hide her late nights. Without her willing them to, her fingers combed through her hair as she watched him, then traveled to run once beneath her eye as if she could wipe away the darkness there.

“Um, I don’t care when it is,” Mairen added belatedly, realizing she had never even started to answer the question that wasn’t quite asked, but implied. “During the week might be, um-”

Smaller.

“…better.” She nearly managed to keep the next bit in, but the words escaped with the natural ease that she was so used to feeling around him. “I don’t think it would matter if it were a weekend or not; my side will be near-empty, regardless.”

Two blinks and Mairen realized what she had said, unable to hide the embarrassment she felt. Damn it all, why couldn’t she just keep her mouth shut around him?

Why couldn’t he have chosen me from the get-go?

Mairen seemed quiet, far too quiet. They made an interesting couple, considering how much the both of them liked to talk on a regular basis. However, that never seemed to be too much of a problem when they were together. After all, as much as Scorpius liked to talk, he liked listening to Mairen talk even more. However, Mairen wasn't doing much talking right then. She seemed subdued, almost, and the blonde really didn't like it. Mairen was supposed to be lively and feisty, not like this.

"The fourth it is then," the wizard said with a small smile and a nod, pushing her last comment to the back of his mind to deal with later. "Do you, uh, have any preference on the venue? I have a few nice places in mind, or we could use the Mansion," Scorpius admitted, well aware that his parents would insist he got married somewhere in the gardens of Malfoy Mansion. If Mairen wanted to get married elsewhere, however, he'd be willing to convince them otherwise.

Stepping off the lift, the blonde went to reach for Mairen's hand, before pulling back and continuing to walk. The movement hadn't been very noticeable, hardly a twitch, but Scorpius was suddenly hyper-aware of it all the same. The man wasn't oblivious enough not to realize that Mairen was far more tactile than himself, and she was uncharacteristically quiet, so the wizard had reached out to touch her, only to find that he didn't have the nerve. The ring box felt heavier than a chunk of lead in his pocket.

This was ridiculous. He was a Malfoy, he wasn't afraid of anything. Well, besides other Malfoy's, but that was completely beside the point. His grandfather was completely and utterly deserving of any and all fear his grandson felt. How the hell was Scorpius supposed to propose if he couldn't muster up the courage to hold her hand? And with that thought, the lawyer reached out, grasped Mairen's hand in his own, and continued to stride toward the Italian restaurant like nothing had happened.

"That's alright," he said, after a moment of quiet, "I was hoping for a smaller wedding. Otherwise I'd have to invite the whole extended family, and Merlin knows we don't want to deal with them. My, uh, my side probably won't be too large either. I'm not always the most friendly bloke around."

Giving Mairen's hand a slight squeeze, the male let go, and took a small step to the side in order to open the door of the restaurant for his girlfriend. He'd say fiancée, but she wasn't wearing his ring yet, so he wasn't sure it would be proper. But it was alright, he'd be fixing that soon enough.

Mairen didn’t feel guilty about practically giving him the cold shoulder until he smiled at her. It looked almost nervous, though she only caught a sidelong glance of it, since she was actively pretending not to be watching him out of the corner of her eye. The very idea of a mansion made her nervous. She wouldn’t have to live there would she? Mairen had no idea what all of this meant or would mean. The doors opened as she gave him an almost apologetic frown. Something in the way that he spoke made her feel like maybe – just maybe – she owed him something. If it was expected that he would marry there, she would have to do it. She refused to give them more reason to dislike her than they already had.

“No, that’ll work. If you think it’s best, that’s-“

His fingers melded into hers and Mairen lost the ability to speak for a few moments. Staring up at him, she had to remind her feet to move forward alongside him, regardless of the fact that her eyes were wide and searching. She had a right to be angry, didn’t she? She thought she did. The more she read about his family and the families he was meant to emulate, the less sure she was. She, too, had reacted badly. He had this weight on his shoulders that she could not fathom, even after her research. She just wasn’t supposed to be standing where she was, and he just wasn’t supposed to be holding her hand and talking of weddings. They weren’t supposed to be.

Clearing her throat quietly, she glanced at the sidewalk before trying again, “It sounds like it would be a pretty location.”

Scorpius had talked like this before. Had acted like this before. But only one time when Mairen had been around to see it. The first time he could have lost her. The memory somehow chilled her but warmed her at the same time – it was strikingly similar, and so far as she could tell, he had made the same decision. She just nodded at his next words, remembering belatedly that she let the comment slip without thinking. When he dropped her hand, she couldn’t help but frown. Her own hand came up to rest on the arm closest to her.

“Wait,” she blurted, hardly thinking. She pulled her hand back to her side and stepped away, out of view of the patrons in the restaurant and wrapped her arms around her middle as she waited for him to realize she was not set on going inside yet. Mairen could handle waiting a few minutes for lunch. It wouldn’t be the first time she had missed it, if it came to that. “I- um. Scor,” she began, falling into old habits as she looked anywhere but at his eyes, “I don’t want to know. But I have to know. D’you- D’you want this? Are we going to be okay…?”

Her hair fell into her eyes as she looked down and told her hands to relax at her sides rather than clutching the fabric of her shirt as they wound around her. Peeking up at Scorpius, she could feel that her cheeks were flushed with the awkwardness of her questions. Although she had already asked and the words were hanging in the air, Mairen almost wished she hadn’t done so. Almost. Not knowing was worse, if only because her imagination was something rather impressive when she worried.

"I'm glad you think so," Scorpius stated, something that felt like a weight lifting off of his shoulders. Getting married at the mansion would certainly be much easier than anywhere else, all things considered. His father would probably be the main obstacle, but the man could deal with his dad. As long as his grandfather stayed out of the equation, Scorpius knew that he'd have a good counter argument for anything thrown his way. If Lucius did decide to get involved, well, the wizard could only hope that Isadora would be willing to help convince the elder man to change his mind. Merlin knows that the girl was by far his favorite grandchild.

The wizard was feeling a lot better about the whole situation, Mairen could have been screaming at him, after all, when the witch didn't step into the restaurant as expected. Of course, things weren't going to be that simple. Well, a man was allowed to hope, was he not?

The lawyer stood before his girlfriend, using every bit of his self-restraint not to gape. Of course they were alright, of course he wanted this! Had he not made that clear? They were talking about wedding venues, what part of that could possibly make the redhead think that things weren't going well? Running his tongue quickly over his bottom lip, the man admitted to himself that it was probably him. After all, Mairen was the normal one when it came to understanding emotions and things like that. Scorpius, on the other hand, was somewhat stunted when it came to comprehending and expressing such things in a way that non-family members could grasp.

The man had been intending to do this later, but there was no way he'd be able to reassure Mairen with a few slick words. Dropping to one knee, and mourning his expensive slacks somewhere in the back of his mind, the man reached into his shirt pocket. Withdrawing a small felt box, Scorpius popped it open and showed the redhead the glistening contents.

"Mairen. I've never felt for anyone the way I do for you. You make me, so happy. Miss Tierney, would you do me the honor of marrying me?" the blonde said, voice starting out soft and uneven, before growing stronger. He loved this woman, he did. Scorpius wasn't strong enough to say it, not yet, but he would. The witch was far too good for him, and the man knew it. But he wouldn't care for her if she wasn't.  

"That is, if you want to. If not I could probably pull some strings. I know a few people," Scorpius backpedalled quickly, attempting to keep his voice as smooth as possible. After all, he was only one half of the arranged marriage.

He looked shocked by her questions, leaving Mairen all the more confused. What had she missed? He was willing to make it work, she knew that. That wasn't her issue or her question He had made it clear. Her stomach dropped right out of her as he moved, not sure at all what she expected he would do.

Regardless of the images that formed in her mind, she didn't expect him to do what he actually did. In fact, her eyes widened and she moved back a step in surprise. Feeling guilty for her knee-jerk reaction, though, she collected herself and clasped her hands in front of her mouth as she looked down at him.

This man who had seemed to close to perfect that she dared not question him... he was serious. As he started speaking, she started to feel ashamed of doubting him at all. Her gaze was so set on his face, allowing herself to believe he was genuine, that she forgot to look at what he held out to her. Trying to find her voice, she let her hands fall to rest in front of her stomach, mouth parted. Just as she drew in a breath to respond, he spoke again and Mairen found herself cracking a smile.

Practically cutting off his last sentence, Mairen let out a breathy laugh. "Stop talking," she demanded, ignoring the box in favor of cradling his face in her hands and bending over to press her lips to his. She hadn't even thought twice about it, and hardly cared if he objected. It was so adverse to her typical behavior, but she couldn't find it in her to worry. Never one to drop emotional words unless he had to, her - um - fiancé had clearly tried to offer her what she needed in order to forgive him.

Her fingers delved into Scorpius's hair without her asking them to, amazed at herself for not bothering to give any real reply after how many times she had just chattered on without sign of stopping. Her lingering kiss turned into several little ones punctuating her next words. "You don't need to talk to anyone. Don't you dare suggest anything like that again. I want you."

It wasn't quite fixed, because they both knew that would take work, but continuing to question each other would only make it worse. She was confident in that. So she had to be confident in the idea that he wanted her, too.