Enclosed

Chapter Forty: Greece

18 months later...

The first time someone tried to kill Rose Granger-Weasley, she thought it was the third worst day of her life. It turned out to be one of the best things to ever happen to her. 

Without all those feeble assassinations attempts, Albus never would have forced her into going to the safe house. Without ever going to the safe house, she never would have seen Scorpius for who he truly was. Without seeing Scorpius's real self, she never would have let her guard down and fallen in love with him. Without falling in love with him - well there were many things she wouldn't have been without him in her life. 

Here on this beautiful white sandy beach with a sea as blue as a diamond, was just one of them.

Rose spent most of her professional career learning how to be the best. That meant taking the cases nobody else wanted, schmoozing with the big-wigs who stepped into their offices, and one upping her colleagues who wouldn't cast an Aguamenti to help her if the room was on fire.

Now that she was 25, Rose didn't have to climb to the top. She was already there. 

To no one's surprise, Pious was given 22,801 years in Azkaban. 151 year for every witch or wizard he'd forced into an extraction. There were talks of giving him the death penalty as well but that decision was still being mauled over by the Wizengamot. Either way he would never see the light of day.

After Pious's trial last January, with Rose as the expert witness, she'd gained the respect of every member of the Wizengamot and the wizarding community. It launched her into high-demand. After Ruiz's trial, which Rose was allowed to be the lead prosecutor on, she was considered the best.  Now every Auror in the department demanded to have her as their prosecutor.

The minute Rose finished up with one case it was right on to the other. Her working days were long, tedious, and demanding. Rose thought at this point in her career she'd know it all. She never thought she'd have to learn the most important skill of all; maintain a work life-balance. 

Luckily, her extremely stubborn boyfriend was an expert on the topic and was teaching Rose everything she needed to know. 

When he insisted on taking her away for a relaxing vacation to one of his family's summer homes in Greece, it didn't take much convincing. With an extended invite to Alice and Al, who were still going strong, it was set to be a perfect week. It was her first vacation in four years and it was glorious. 

Rose let her fingers run through the sand as she leaned back further into the chair Scorpius's conjured for her. Alice laid by her side in a similar chair. Alice's blonde hair was pinned into a bun on top of her head. She worse a classy black and white pin stripped bathing suit with high waisted black bottoms that made her look like Marilyn Monroe. With the glowing sun beating off Alice's skin she looked like a goddess. 

In comparison, Rose's pale freckled skin could blind any onlooker. She'd cut her hair recently, so it just skimmed her shoulders. With a little Sleekeazy's hair potion, her hair morphed into soft beach waves. She wore a deep blueberry bikini that brought out the color in her eyes. 

She felt a little uncomfortable showing so much skin. Soft pink cuts were diagonally cut across her stomach. Scars that would never go away from the attack. Deep down she knew that the scars were beautiful and there was nothing to be ashamed of. On the surface level, she didn't want to risk people staring at them. Risk the whispers. Risk the pitying looks.

 No matter how often Scorpius told her to not care what others thought, she couldn't help it. She was trying to be better about it. Trying to be more confident. So when she got dressed for the beach that morning, she opted for a two-piece rather than the one-piece she'd been sporting. It was just Al and Alice. No need to hide from them.