Fest Fic: One Night Stand
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hp_bunintheovenTitle: One Night Stand
Author/Artist:nightfalltwen
Pairing(s): Rose/Theodore
Prompt: # H15
Summary: A one night stand overseas leaves behind a little more consequence than Rose was expecting.
Word Count: 2800
Rating: PG13
Warnings/Contains: age difference (20/47),
Notes: So the prompt was "there was no way she could tell whose it was" and I interpreted it as not being able reveal the father to others as opposed to not being able to differentiate between fathers. Thank you for the extra time, wonderful mod.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.
***
Lined up along the edge of the tub the little vials of test solution glowed in the sunlight that streamed through the high window. Between each bottle of solution sat little plastic wands from the muggle chemist down the street. Rose sat wedged between the tub and the toilet, staring at the twelve offending tests. Really, she should have stopped at three because with three in a row all giving the same answer, there really shouldn't have been any doubt. But maybe she'd mixed the testing potion wrong. Maybe she'd made an error (doubtful) and that's why they all kept saying the same thing.
But every one of the little testing wands that weren't even remotely magic also said the same thing.
Twenty-year-old Rose Weasley was pregnant.
***
Seoul, three months earlier
"Like this. Like this." Jae Hwan patted Rose's arm and gestured at the man sitting on the other side of the small table under the outdoor tent. "He's older. Like this."
Secretary Min filled the little shot glass from a bright, green bottle and Jae Hwan took it from him, her right hand holding the glass and the left cupped underneath. She turned and hid the drink from view, downing the soju in one gulp.
Rose smiled at the young woman. She'd been the only other woman in the group and the only person who was the same age as her on the Department of International Magical cooperation trip to Korea. Once trade negotiations were done, the small group of assistants and a few of the younger secretaries had suggested dinner and drinks. The heads of the departments, both English and Korean, had not joined in and instead of a nice sit-down restaurant in Mabeob-dong, the magical neighbourhood of Seoul, Rose found herself crowded around a small folding table at a little street cafe, bumping elbows with everyone else in the group.
Someone handed Rose one of the small glasses of soju and she did her best to mimic how Jae Hwan had drunk hers, hopefully not insulting the entire contingent of wizards as she fumbled through the steps. The slightly sweet liquor went down fairly easily and she only coughed a little after she was done.
A cheer rose from the group and someone filled her glass again.
***
"And another thing," Rose said, eyes barely parted and the floor making suspicious waves under her feet. A laugh bubbled out and she waved her hand. "It seems I've just forgotten."
The young man holding her under her arm pressed on the button for the lift. He said something to her, but the words came out too fast for her to understand. Or maybe not too fast but rather they came out far too Korean. She wasn't quite sure because everything was either too fast or too slow or perhaps maybe a little too Korean. But he was smiling and it was such a nice smile. They all had nice smiles, she'd noticed. The whole group of assistants and secretaries were, by far, some of the prettiest people she'd ever come across.
It really wasn't that fair. Why were they so pretty? Why did they get to have all the cheekbones and sleek hair while she had to contend with her mother's wild curls and her father's long nose?
She reached to pat his cheek with her fingers and slowly blinked to keep herself focused. Maybe this pretty man would come up to her hotel room and maybe she could be just a little bit wild for one night. But before she could connect with the young man's face, a hand circled her wrist.
"I'll take her from here."
Rose let her gaze travel from the fingers around her wrist to the forearm and then the bicep and shoulder until her eyes briefly focused on the face in front of her. She frowned. Yet another unfairly good looking person.
"You're intoxicated Ms Weasley," said Theodore Nott, head of the department and her immediate boss.
Rose made a dismissive noise and shook her head and all the wild curls that had come loose during the night bounced around her face. "I can't be. I only drank little glasses." She held out her free hand and tried indicating the size of the soju glasses with her thumb and forefinger. "Just little ones."
"But how many of those little ones did you have?" Theodore led her into the lift and pressed a button.
"You know... I'm can't be certain."
The car started to move and Rose felt a small heave in her stomach which she was sure had something to do with the lift and nothing to do with what she'd drunk earlier. Sucking air in through her nose, she closed her eyes. His hand tightened on her wrist and he folded her arm around his. The motion drew her a bit closer to his shoulder and Rose couldn't help but lean her head against it.
"Your hotel key?" he asked as the car came to a stop and the doors slid open.
Rose struggled to open her eyes again and held out her pocketbook. "You're such a nice boss," she said, letting herself smile. "Everyone said I shouldn't work for a Slytherin, but I like my job."
"You might not think so once I've sobered you up," Theodore replied, tapping the card against the door lock until it beeped.
"Oh please no," she said suddenly, clinging to his arm. "I feel... this is... " Rose swallowed trying to get her unhelpful tongue to form words. "I never get to have fun and I feel brave and I never get to feel brave."
"You? A Weasley? Isn't the whole family Gryffindor?" He sat her down on the edge of the bed and shuffled away. Rose flopped back on the mattress.
"They're all Gryffindors. I'm the odd one out."
She pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes. There had been a time, back when she was first hired, that she'd been a bit afraid of Theodore Nott. Her father had said such awful things about Slytherins at the dinner table. And especially terrible things about the Slytherins he'd gone to school with. But he'd treated her with respect and he'd never spoke ill of muggleborns like her mother or things that had happened in the past. He'd shown that some people can move on from their upbringing and that, paired with the fact that he was quite attractive, had made it easy for her to develop these uncomfortable, one-sided feelings for him.
Suddenly Rose felt the dizziness start to abate and she looked up to see Theodore waving a wand over her. A frown of disappointment spread across her face.
"I need you with all your faculties, Ms Weasley," he said.
"We're done negotiations, though."
"We have a long trip tomorrow and I'd rather you didn't do it with a hangover."
"I'll take something in the morning," Rose said, staring up at the ceiling above her bed. "Can't I just have one night? Don't you ever just want to have one night without thinking about the consequences? Because I think. I think all the time." She buried her fingers in her hair. "For once I'd just like to stop."
"Sometimes it's better to think about the consequences." He tucked the wand into the inside pocket of his jacket and moved to the foot of the bed.
Just as he passed her knees, Rose sat up, her head still cloudy, but the world spinning less than it had been moments earlier. Her hand darted out and she grabbed the fabric at his wrist, stopping him. She stared at the cufflink just above her fingertips for a long time before her gaze travelled up his arm to his shoulder and she could see the slow bob of his Adam's apple as he swallowed.
"Stay?"
He didn't look at her. "You'll regret it."
The dizziness might have abated, but the false courage that the drinks had given her had not. "But what if I don't?" she asked, hoping she sounded bold. Her fingers let go his shirt sleeve and caught his hand.
"And what if you do?"
Rose looked at his hand and traced her fingertip over the bumps of his knuckles. "I won't."
***
England; present
Rose's hands wrapped tightly around the mug in front of her. She had to hold onto something or she was sure that her whole body would continue to shake. Both her parents stared in stunned disbelief. The obvious questions remained unspoken. No one asked how it could have happened; everyone knew how babies were made and it was hard for either Hermione or Ron to be angry as Rose was no longer a child.
"How could you not know who..." Hermione asked, breaking the silence.
Rose felt her face go hot and she rubbed her eyes with the heel of her hand. A stranger, she'd told them. Some random one night encounter with a delegate on the trip. She didn't know his name. It was easier to say that she had been drunk and ultimately made a choice that she regretted. Ron's nostril's flared with every explanation and Rose wasn't sure if it was because he was simply furious or because he knew she was lying.
The kitchen chair scraped across the floor suddenly and Rose watched as her father left the room, the sound of him disapparating the only parting sound.
"What are you going to do then?" Hermione asked, her gaze still turned towards the spot that Ron had once occupied while her hand reached out and pointed her wand toward the kettle, setting it to heat once again.
Rose shrugged her shoulders and leaned down until her cheek was pressed against the cool surface of the table. She wasn't sure. She hadn't thought that far ahead. All she knew was that she was on her own. It was her choice to not think about the consequences. It was her choice to ask him to stay. It was her choice to sleep with a man who was twice her age and then some. It was all her choice.
It was all her fault.
***
Two Months Later
"You can't even tell that there's anything different," Lily said, sitting on the counter of the staff canteen.
Rose scowled at her cousin. It was an obvious lie. Her face was fuller these days and she'd distinctly heard one of the nastier assistants to her Uncle Percy (transferring to Improper Use of Magic had been one of the easier choices she'd made) whisper about the extra weight she'd gained. All the baggy jumpers in the world wasn't going to disguise her condition forever. Uncle Percy had offered to give her work that she stay home instead of coming in, but Rose had declined.
"Have you tried contacting him?" Lily asked, bonking the cupboard door with her heel.
"Everyone has asked me that, Lils. What on earth would I say?" Rose twisted the top off her orange juice and took a long swallow.
"You could start with... surprise!" She hopped down off the counter. "I mean, he should take some of the blame here."
"Or I could just not disrupt his life because of my stupid decision."
Lily crossed the room and planted a kiss on Rose's cheek. "Two to tango, love. The bloke has an equal stake in this. Though had I known you were ultimately this naughty, we would have had a lot more fun in school."
"I hate you," Rose said, shaking her head.
"No you don't!" Lily replied, flouncing out of the room.
Rubbing the back of her neck, Rose poured the contents of her orange juice down the sink. Her stomach had started to churn anxiously and she didn't want to run the risk of things coming back up. Whomever said that morning sickness was only in the morning and only in the first few months was a damn liar and she wished them severe punishment forever and for always.
Setting the bottle aside to be washed and recycled, Rose turned and yelped in surprise at the person standing in the doorway.
"I have oft wondered where my former undersecretary takes her lunch now that she's abandoned me for a different department," Theodore Nott said coolly, looking her up and down.
Rose tugged uncomfortably at the hem of her jumper and backed up against the sink. "You.. you look well."
"You don't," he answered with a tilt to his head. "It looks like you haven't been getting much sleep."
"My sleeping habits aren't really much of a concern for you," Rose answered, reaching for her bag and tucking it under her arm. "I need to get back to my desk."
He caught her arm as she passed and spun her around. "Are you ever going to be honest with me, Ms Weasley?"
All the blood seemed to drain from her face and sink to somewhere around her ankles. She couldn't bring herself to look at his face and only managed to stare at a spot on his shoulder. Suddenly she couldn't remember what she'd told him when she'd asked for a transfer. Something about wanting to explore a new department. That had do be it. That had to be what he was asking. He'd figured that she wasn't being honest and rightly so. She hadn't been honest about why she was moving to a spot in Improper Use of Magic.
"I don't know what you mean," she tried, her voice shaking. "I wrote about my reasons for transfer in my resignation letter..."
"Not that. I don't give two shits about why you're working in another department," he said, grasping her chin between a thumb and forefinger and tilting her head up. His free hand flattened against the small curve of her stomach. "This. I'm done being patient and waiting for you to come to me."
She sucked in a breath and took a step back, moving back from his hand and pulling her chin from his grasp. "How..."
"Two months ago, I received a visit by a very angry former classmate of mine. Bullied his way through my department, frightened the rest of the staff until I would see him and speak with him. And then in my office tore a strip off of me for letting my vulnerable staff get drunk and sleep with just anyone. Informed me that it was my duty to find out all the names of the men who were part of the Korean negotiations because one of them had gotten his darling daughter up the duff."
Theodore stepped a little closer and placed both hands on her shoulders, urging her to sit. Rose sank into the chair and buried her fingers in her hair. He'd known? He'd known all this time. Her father had told him? Her breaths came in short, panicked gasps and tears started to well up in her eyes. She swiped at her face angrily wishing her emotions weren't betraying her utterly and completely.
"There weren't supposed to be any consequences," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
"I suspect this is a rather large consequence."
Rose squared her shoulders. "It's my consequence to deal with."
"That would make me a pretty terrible person to just leave you with it." Theodore crouched down and tried to make her look at him, but she only managed to squeeze her eyes shut.
"No one needs to know it was you." She let out a dry, almost hysterical laugh. "How would I even explain it? My father might actually have a heart attack and die from the shock. You're his age... and I think you being a Slytherin might honestly be worse than the age."
She could almost hear the rolling of his eyes.
"How will you explain a baby that isn't half Korean?"
Rose shrugged her shoulders. That little detail had been in the back of her head, but she had planned to use the remaining months to come up with a plan. He was right. There would be more questions once the baby came along and she'd have to meet those head on once it happened.
"Rose." His voice had a tone that she hadn't heard before. Tired. Pleading. A bit hopeful?
She opened her eyes and finally met his gaze.
"You'll regret it," she said sadly. "Trapped like this. I'm not asking for help. You'll regret it."
"What if I don't?" he asked, taking her hand. It felt warm and for the first time in the last few months she felt comfort.
"What if you do?"
He touched her cheek. "I won't."
Author/Artist:
nightfalltwenPairing(s): Rose/Theodore
Prompt: # H15
Summary: A one night stand overseas leaves behind a little more consequence than Rose was expecting.
Word Count: 2800
Rating: PG13
Warnings/Contains: age difference (20/47),
Notes: So the prompt was "there was no way she could tell whose it was" and I interpreted it as not being able reveal the father to others as opposed to not being able to differentiate between fathers. Thank you for the extra time, wonderful mod.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Lined up along the edge of the tub the little vials of test solution glowed in the sunlight that streamed through the high window. Between each bottle of solution sat little plastic wands from the muggle chemist down the street. Rose sat wedged between the tub and the toilet, staring at the twelve offending tests. Really, she should have stopped at three because with three in a row all giving the same answer, there really shouldn't have been any doubt. But maybe she'd mixed the testing potion wrong. Maybe she'd made an error (doubtful) and that's why they all kept saying the same thing.
But every one of the little testing wands that weren't even remotely magic also said the same thing.
Twenty-year-old Rose Weasley was pregnant.
Seoul, three months earlier
"Like this. Like this." Jae Hwan patted Rose's arm and gestured at the man sitting on the other side of the small table under the outdoor tent. "He's older. Like this."
Secretary Min filled the little shot glass from a bright, green bottle and Jae Hwan took it from him, her right hand holding the glass and the left cupped underneath. She turned and hid the drink from view, downing the soju in one gulp.
Rose smiled at the young woman. She'd been the only other woman in the group and the only person who was the same age as her on the Department of International Magical cooperation trip to Korea. Once trade negotiations were done, the small group of assistants and a few of the younger secretaries had suggested dinner and drinks. The heads of the departments, both English and Korean, had not joined in and instead of a nice sit-down restaurant in Mabeob-dong, the magical neighbourhood of Seoul, Rose found herself crowded around a small folding table at a little street cafe, bumping elbows with everyone else in the group.
Someone handed Rose one of the small glasses of soju and she did her best to mimic how Jae Hwan had drunk hers, hopefully not insulting the entire contingent of wizards as she fumbled through the steps. The slightly sweet liquor went down fairly easily and she only coughed a little after she was done.
A cheer rose from the group and someone filled her glass again.
"And another thing," Rose said, eyes barely parted and the floor making suspicious waves under her feet. A laugh bubbled out and she waved her hand. "It seems I've just forgotten."
The young man holding her under her arm pressed on the button for the lift. He said something to her, but the words came out too fast for her to understand. Or maybe not too fast but rather they came out far too Korean. She wasn't quite sure because everything was either too fast or too slow or perhaps maybe a little too Korean. But he was smiling and it was such a nice smile. They all had nice smiles, she'd noticed. The whole group of assistants and secretaries were, by far, some of the prettiest people she'd ever come across.
It really wasn't that fair. Why were they so pretty? Why did they get to have all the cheekbones and sleek hair while she had to contend with her mother's wild curls and her father's long nose?
She reached to pat his cheek with her fingers and slowly blinked to keep herself focused. Maybe this pretty man would come up to her hotel room and maybe she could be just a little bit wild for one night. But before she could connect with the young man's face, a hand circled her wrist.
"I'll take her from here."
Rose let her gaze travel from the fingers around her wrist to the forearm and then the bicep and shoulder until her eyes briefly focused on the face in front of her. She frowned. Yet another unfairly good looking person.
"You're intoxicated Ms Weasley," said Theodore Nott, head of the department and her immediate boss.
Rose made a dismissive noise and shook her head and all the wild curls that had come loose during the night bounced around her face. "I can't be. I only drank little glasses." She held out her free hand and tried indicating the size of the soju glasses with her thumb and forefinger. "Just little ones."
"But how many of those little ones did you have?" Theodore led her into the lift and pressed a button.
"You know... I'm can't be certain."
The car started to move and Rose felt a small heave in her stomach which she was sure had something to do with the lift and nothing to do with what she'd drunk earlier. Sucking air in through her nose, she closed her eyes. His hand tightened on her wrist and he folded her arm around his. The motion drew her a bit closer to his shoulder and Rose couldn't help but lean her head against it.
"Your hotel key?" he asked as the car came to a stop and the doors slid open.
Rose struggled to open her eyes again and held out her pocketbook. "You're such a nice boss," she said, letting herself smile. "Everyone said I shouldn't work for a Slytherin, but I like my job."
"You might not think so once I've sobered you up," Theodore replied, tapping the card against the door lock until it beeped.
"Oh please no," she said suddenly, clinging to his arm. "I feel... this is... " Rose swallowed trying to get her unhelpful tongue to form words. "I never get to have fun and I feel brave and I never get to feel brave."
"You? A Weasley? Isn't the whole family Gryffindor?" He sat her down on the edge of the bed and shuffled away. Rose flopped back on the mattress.
"They're all Gryffindors. I'm the odd one out."
She pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes. There had been a time, back when she was first hired, that she'd been a bit afraid of Theodore Nott. Her father had said such awful things about Slytherins at the dinner table. And especially terrible things about the Slytherins he'd gone to school with. But he'd treated her with respect and he'd never spoke ill of muggleborns like her mother or things that had happened in the past. He'd shown that some people can move on from their upbringing and that, paired with the fact that he was quite attractive, had made it easy for her to develop these uncomfortable, one-sided feelings for him.
Suddenly Rose felt the dizziness start to abate and she looked up to see Theodore waving a wand over her. A frown of disappointment spread across her face.
"I need you with all your faculties, Ms Weasley," he said.
"We're done negotiations, though."
"We have a long trip tomorrow and I'd rather you didn't do it with a hangover."
"I'll take something in the morning," Rose said, staring up at the ceiling above her bed. "Can't I just have one night? Don't you ever just want to have one night without thinking about the consequences? Because I think. I think all the time." She buried her fingers in her hair. "For once I'd just like to stop."
"Sometimes it's better to think about the consequences." He tucked the wand into the inside pocket of his jacket and moved to the foot of the bed.
Just as he passed her knees, Rose sat up, her head still cloudy, but the world spinning less than it had been moments earlier. Her hand darted out and she grabbed the fabric at his wrist, stopping him. She stared at the cufflink just above her fingertips for a long time before her gaze travelled up his arm to his shoulder and she could see the slow bob of his Adam's apple as he swallowed.
"Stay?"
He didn't look at her. "You'll regret it."
The dizziness might have abated, but the false courage that the drinks had given her had not. "But what if I don't?" she asked, hoping she sounded bold. Her fingers let go his shirt sleeve and caught his hand.
"And what if you do?"
Rose looked at his hand and traced her fingertip over the bumps of his knuckles. "I won't."
England; present
Rose's hands wrapped tightly around the mug in front of her. She had to hold onto something or she was sure that her whole body would continue to shake. Both her parents stared in stunned disbelief. The obvious questions remained unspoken. No one asked how it could have happened; everyone knew how babies were made and it was hard for either Hermione or Ron to be angry as Rose was no longer a child.
"How could you not know who..." Hermione asked, breaking the silence.
Rose felt her face go hot and she rubbed her eyes with the heel of her hand. A stranger, she'd told them. Some random one night encounter with a delegate on the trip. She didn't know his name. It was easier to say that she had been drunk and ultimately made a choice that she regretted. Ron's nostril's flared with every explanation and Rose wasn't sure if it was because he was simply furious or because he knew she was lying.
The kitchen chair scraped across the floor suddenly and Rose watched as her father left the room, the sound of him disapparating the only parting sound.
"What are you going to do then?" Hermione asked, her gaze still turned towards the spot that Ron had once occupied while her hand reached out and pointed her wand toward the kettle, setting it to heat once again.
Rose shrugged her shoulders and leaned down until her cheek was pressed against the cool surface of the table. She wasn't sure. She hadn't thought that far ahead. All she knew was that she was on her own. It was her choice to not think about the consequences. It was her choice to ask him to stay. It was her choice to sleep with a man who was twice her age and then some. It was all her choice.
It was all her fault.
Two Months Later
"You can't even tell that there's anything different," Lily said, sitting on the counter of the staff canteen.
Rose scowled at her cousin. It was an obvious lie. Her face was fuller these days and she'd distinctly heard one of the nastier assistants to her Uncle Percy (transferring to Improper Use of Magic had been one of the easier choices she'd made) whisper about the extra weight she'd gained. All the baggy jumpers in the world wasn't going to disguise her condition forever. Uncle Percy had offered to give her work that she stay home instead of coming in, but Rose had declined.
"Have you tried contacting him?" Lily asked, bonking the cupboard door with her heel.
"Everyone has asked me that, Lils. What on earth would I say?" Rose twisted the top off her orange juice and took a long swallow.
"You could start with... surprise!" She hopped down off the counter. "I mean, he should take some of the blame here."
"Or I could just not disrupt his life because of my stupid decision."
Lily crossed the room and planted a kiss on Rose's cheek. "Two to tango, love. The bloke has an equal stake in this. Though had I known you were ultimately this naughty, we would have had a lot more fun in school."
"I hate you," Rose said, shaking her head.
"No you don't!" Lily replied, flouncing out of the room.
Rubbing the back of her neck, Rose poured the contents of her orange juice down the sink. Her stomach had started to churn anxiously and she didn't want to run the risk of things coming back up. Whomever said that morning sickness was only in the morning and only in the first few months was a damn liar and she wished them severe punishment forever and for always.
Setting the bottle aside to be washed and recycled, Rose turned and yelped in surprise at the person standing in the doorway.
"I have oft wondered where my former undersecretary takes her lunch now that she's abandoned me for a different department," Theodore Nott said coolly, looking her up and down.
Rose tugged uncomfortably at the hem of her jumper and backed up against the sink. "You.. you look well."
"You don't," he answered with a tilt to his head. "It looks like you haven't been getting much sleep."
"My sleeping habits aren't really much of a concern for you," Rose answered, reaching for her bag and tucking it under her arm. "I need to get back to my desk."
He caught her arm as she passed and spun her around. "Are you ever going to be honest with me, Ms Weasley?"
All the blood seemed to drain from her face and sink to somewhere around her ankles. She couldn't bring herself to look at his face and only managed to stare at a spot on his shoulder. Suddenly she couldn't remember what she'd told him when she'd asked for a transfer. Something about wanting to explore a new department. That had do be it. That had to be what he was asking. He'd figured that she wasn't being honest and rightly so. She hadn't been honest about why she was moving to a spot in Improper Use of Magic.
"I don't know what you mean," she tried, her voice shaking. "I wrote about my reasons for transfer in my resignation letter..."
"Not that. I don't give two shits about why you're working in another department," he said, grasping her chin between a thumb and forefinger and tilting her head up. His free hand flattened against the small curve of her stomach. "This. I'm done being patient and waiting for you to come to me."
She sucked in a breath and took a step back, moving back from his hand and pulling her chin from his grasp. "How..."
"Two months ago, I received a visit by a very angry former classmate of mine. Bullied his way through my department, frightened the rest of the staff until I would see him and speak with him. And then in my office tore a strip off of me for letting my vulnerable staff get drunk and sleep with just anyone. Informed me that it was my duty to find out all the names of the men who were part of the Korean negotiations because one of them had gotten his darling daughter up the duff."
Theodore stepped a little closer and placed both hands on her shoulders, urging her to sit. Rose sank into the chair and buried her fingers in her hair. He'd known? He'd known all this time. Her father had told him? Her breaths came in short, panicked gasps and tears started to well up in her eyes. She swiped at her face angrily wishing her emotions weren't betraying her utterly and completely.
"There weren't supposed to be any consequences," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
"I suspect this is a rather large consequence."
Rose squared her shoulders. "It's my consequence to deal with."
"That would make me a pretty terrible person to just leave you with it." Theodore crouched down and tried to make her look at him, but she only managed to squeeze her eyes shut.
"No one needs to know it was you." She let out a dry, almost hysterical laugh. "How would I even explain it? My father might actually have a heart attack and die from the shock. You're his age... and I think you being a Slytherin might honestly be worse than the age."
She could almost hear the rolling of his eyes.
"How will you explain a baby that isn't half Korean?"
Rose shrugged her shoulders. That little detail had been in the back of her head, but she had planned to use the remaining months to come up with a plan. He was right. There would be more questions once the baby came along and she'd have to meet those head on once it happened.
"Rose." His voice had a tone that she hadn't heard before. Tired. Pleading. A bit hopeful?
She opened her eyes and finally met his gaze.
"You'll regret it," she said sadly. "Trapped like this. I'm not asking for help. You'll regret it."
"What if I don't?" he asked, taking her hand. It felt warm and for the first time in the last few months she felt comfort.
"What if you do?"
He touched her cheek. "I won't."
