"What?" Albus smiled.

"You like babies," Scorpius realized.

Albus's cheek warmed beneath Scorpius's hand. "No...I like this baby, my niece baby, James and Nora's baby."

"I think you just like babies in general."

"To be fair, I've only interacted with the baby through Nora's stomach—maybe I'll find it creepy once it's actually here."

"Doubt it," Scorpius said, his heart doing its familiar Albus-thing. "I think you're going to be the best uncle there is."

Albus fought his impending smile, but it was a battle he lost. When he grinned, Scorpius sat up and kissed his smile. Scorpius felt an interrupting tap to the top of his head a moment later. He glanced back.

"I'm going to Muggle London," Lily told them. "Want anything?"

"You can't go to Muggle London alone," Albus scoffed. "What do they even have in Muggle London? And anyway, you haven't got any muggle money."

"I'm not going alone. Dominique and Louis are going with me. I'm going to buy my niece some toys. And yes I have—Aster and I have been converting small amounts of pocket money over to muggle money every year since we were ten."

"What? Why?" Albus sighed.

"We're saving up for the matching muggle tattoos we're going to get once we're eighteen," Lily responded. "Scorpius? Want anything?"

Scorpius pondered. "If I pay you in regular money, can you use some of your converted money to buy the baby a gift from me and Albus?"

Lily shrugged. "Sure, sounds fair. What do you want me to get?"

"Ooh," Scorpius said. He squeezed his eyes shut and thought hard. "Something soft and cuddly. What do you think, Albus?"

"Sure. Something soft and cuddly. But if Mum and Dad ask, we had no idea you were running off to the muggle part."

"Deal," Lily agreed.

Scorpius, Albus, Rose, and Iset spent the next hour guessing their O.W.L scores in each subject. They wrote out their predictions, took bets on whose might be the most accurate, and then drank the tea Molly and Arthur brought when they arrived. Lily returned with the softest stuffed bear that Scorpius had ever touched; he spent the rest of that hour holding it, thinking about how much the baby might like it, and hoping that they might be able to stay here until the baby was born. By the third hour in the reception area, it'd turned into a makeshift N.E.W.T. study room. James and Nora's friends alternated between quizzing each other, reading their school books, and taking turns going back to the hospital room to check in on their friends.

By the fifth hour, Scorpius's dad had finally arrived. Albus was asleep with his head in Scorpius's lap.

"Any news?" Draco asked. "Ginny Floo'd an hour ago and said it was almost time."

"I haven't heard anything in the past hour. How was your visit?" Scorpius wondered. He turned and reached for the mug at the table to his right. "Here's your tea, Albus's gran saved it especially for you."

"Good. Really good, actually," Draco said, after taking a sip of his tea. "Delphi's got a pet."

"Really? Not an Augurey, I hope."

Scorpius laughed at his own joke. He trailed off a moment later. He felt a pang; he missed Albus. He hoped he'd wake up soon. He would've laughed at that joke.

"A parrot, actually."

Scorpius snorted. "Only because she couldn't get her hands on an Augurey..."

"It's bright—very colorful— and it swears better than any person I've ever met."

"Albus has got to hear this...remind me to tell him when he wakes up."

Scorpius nodded off at some point, lulled to sleep by Albus's steady breathing and the quiet rustling of pages and parchment as the seventh years revised. He jumped awake an uncertain amount of time later to the startling sound of gleeful shrieks.

"Baby," Scorpius realized. He blinked the sleep from his eyes and gently shook Albus. "Albus. Baby."

Albus sat straight up. It was almost eerie how quickly he shook himself from sleep. "The baby was born?!"

Scorpius pointed at the gathering of people in front of the ward door. They couldn't see much of anything thanks to the congregation, but going by everybody's soft awwws, the baby had indeed been born.

Albus jumped up. Scorpius quickly grabbed the stuffed bear and hurried after him. He apologized for Albus as Albus pushed his way through his brother's friends, fighting his way forward, until—

"Oh," he heard Albus blurt. Albus froze. Scorpius squeezed between Albus's back and Louis and peeked around. James was standing tall, a radiant beam lighting up his tear-soaked face, his arms cradling a tiny baby wrapped in a periwinkle blanket. He was glowing with pride and joy. Albus was gaping. "Oh, Merlin...she's so tiny..."

"I know," James beamed. He sniffed as a few more tears leaked from his eyes. His smile had grown even more, something that seemed impossible with how wide it already was. He looked down at his daughter, his eyes filled with the softest of love. "She's so tiny and so perfect."

"You made that, James," Albus realized, his voice still a bit stunned. "How cool is that?"

Right after Albus finished speaking, the itsy baby in James's arms gave the tiniest (and most precious) of yawns. It was just a bit too much for James. He broke down into overjoyed tears. He bent over his daughter and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead.

"I love you, little Baby Bear. I love you, Evra," he whispered.

"Oh, Merlin," Scorpius heard Lily say. "Just when you think James can't get any soppier..."

Once all of James and Nora's friends had seen the baby, and were confident that Nora was safe and resting, they headed back to Hogwarts. Scorpius was one of the lucky ones who got to remain, despite the fact that he wasn't a blood relative. He, Albus, Lily, Louis, Roxanne, Evvie, Ben, and Clementine joined the four grandparents in Nora's hospital room. It was a tight fit, but Scorpius didn't mind the closeness; the joy radiating off everybody made it one of the most welcoming and comfortable rooms he'd ever been in. He grinned as the grandparents doted over baby Evra. He smiled as Ben set six vases of flowers throughout the room for Nora and the baby. And when Nora asked him if he wanted to hold the baby, his heart gave an excited jump.

"Me?" he squeaked.

"If you want," she said.

Scorpius looked down at Albus, who was currently cradling his newborn niece. He was staring down at Evra with such awe that Scorpius thought he might have to wrestle the baby from him. But Albus sensed Scorpius's eyes and glanced up.

"Are you next?" he asked.

"If...that's okay?" Scorpius asked again, just to make sure. James nodded. He still had that same wide smile in place, the one so large it made his eyes crinkle. Scorpius wouldn't have been surprised if James never frowned ever again.

"I...Mum, can you pass her to Scorpius? I don't know how to..." Albus trailed off uncertainly. Ginny rose from the end of Nora's bed and reached for her granddaughter. She scooped her up, kissed her tiny nose, and then faced Scorpius. Scorpius held his arms out, his heart thudding with nervousness and excitement. He'd never held a baby before. What if he dropped her? What if she hated being held by him and she cried? What if he held her too tightly or...or...

Ginny placed her into his arms before he could continue fretting. It took him a few moments to adjust his arms in a way that felt both secure and comfortable, but once he had, he felt his heart absolutely melt. He leaned over and examined her. She looked peaceful, despite the frequent change of hands. Her nose was smaller than the pad of his thumb. She had dark, downy curls adorning the crown of her head. Her tiny mouth was pursed in a pout—Scorpius couldn't keep himself from giggling at the sight of it. She was so adorable that it rendered him speechless.

"So cute," he heard himself gush. "So—unbelievably—adorable!"

"I know," James said proudly. "She looks just like me, don't you think?"

Albus rolled his eyes. "James, she's a newborn, she doesn't look like anybody."

"She looks a lot like Nora when she was a baby," Dean argued.

"I was just thinking that she reminded me a bit of newborn James," Harry laughed.

"Well, I think she's got my nose," Lily chimed in.

Nora laughed at that. "Wouldn't that technically be your mum's nose, Lily?"

"No...it's my nose, see? I inherited it."

While everybody debated whose traits baby Ginevra might've inherited, Scorpius carefully shifted the baby into his left arm. He reached down with his right hand, grabbed the stuffed bear, and brought it up to her.

"This is for you," he said softly. He gently rested the bear on her, reached for her tiny hand (he let out an actual squeak at how cute her itsy fingernails were), and then set her hand against the soft fur of the bear. Her hand instinctively closed around the bear's ear. Scorpius felt his throat narrow alarmingly. Was he going to cry? This isn't your niece, Scorpius, get a hold of yourself. But she was so adorable, and sweet, and fragile, and...

"Are you crying?" Albus demanded.

"N-no," Scorpius lied. Albus gave him a pointed look. "She's just so precious."

"She is adorable," Albus allowed.

It was amazing to Scorpius. The fact that he was holding a new human being, one who hadn't even existed at the start of the term. One who had no idea of the things they'd all been through. To her, the world was a blank slate. She was a blank slate. And with luck, she'd grow up to know a world much better than the one that Scorpius had known—just like the world Scorpius had known was much better than the one his own dad had known. Most of all, he hoped that that cycle could continue on and on, until one day babies could be born into a world with no hatred at all.

"Even if I failed my O.W.Ls, the baby saves the year," Albus decided.

"You didn't fail," Scorpius reassured Albus. He sighed. "Do you think your dad is ever going to let us hold her?"

"Not a chance," Albus said. He looked across the room at Harry, who was still stretched out on the sofa, baby Evra snoozing on his chest. "By the time she wakes up, James and Nora will be back from their exam, and nobody else will get to hold her for the rest of the night. And if my mum gets back before James and Nora—even worse. She'll be cuddling her and singing to her for hours."

"I still can't believe James tried to bring her into his Transfiguration N.E.W.T.," Scorpius laughed.

"I can," Albus snorted. "I hope he's less angry about the instructor refusing to let the baby in...it's frightening seeing him like that."

"Yeah," Scorpius agreed, his eyes wide. Seeing James furious was never a pleasant experience. The last time Scorpius had seen him angry before this had been at Gregory Goyle's child abuse trial.

"Dad," Albus complained. "Am I going to get to hold my niece before she's a year old?"

"Yeah," Lily agreed. She was at the kitchen table, a length of parchment laid out in front of her. She, Aster Boot, and Caden Rowle were working frantically on an essay they'd put off until the last minute. "I'm missing out on quality bonding time here, Dad."

Harry didn't even open his eyes. "You'll just have to wait your turn, won't you? I'm bonding with my granddaughter."

"He's got a point," Caden admitted. "Grandfather wins over aunt."

Lily lifted a spare roll of parchment and whacked Caden over the head with it.

"Exactly, Caden," Harry said.

"Ugh," Albus muttered. He grimaced Harry's way. "I don't know what's worse: Caden being officially invited to Potter dinners, or Dad actually approving of him."

"You've got to admit that Caden agreeing to die for Lily was probably pretty impressive to your dad. That was probably his exact requirement, actually...and it was filled."

Scorpius caught a flash of bright yellow from the corner of his eye. He glanced over and groaned.

"King! Bathilda! No! You can't sleep in the baby's cot!" he hurried over and scooped the Pygmies out of the colorful cot. He thought they might be attracted to the bright designs; Nora had painted a variety of animals on it, and King in particular seemed to like cozying up next to the image of an elephant. Albus kept joking that he had a crush. "No, no!"

"Stop that," Albus backed him up, wagging his finger sternly at their pets. Bathilda scaled up Scorpius's arm and hid against his neck, as if ashamed. King scaled up Scorpius's other arm and perched proudly atop his head, as if proud.

"What did you decide about the party tonight? Do we stand up Slughorn or make an appearance?" Scorpius asked.

"I dunno...are Rose and Iset going?"

"I think they're going to the Room of Requirement tonight."

Albus arched an eyebrow. He smirked. "Oh? Just them, you mean?"

"Oh," Scorpius said. The thought hadn't occurred to him. "Maybe...I didn't ask...I just took that to mean they weren't going to the party..."

"Good for them," Albus said, pleased. "They've got the right idea."

"You always think that's the right idea."

"Because it always is," Albus grinned. "We could always use a quiet night in."

"Yeah," Scorpius had to agree. "It's been an...eventful school year."

"I died, came back to life, Delphi almost caused an uprising of Death Eaters, James and Nora had a baby, Lily actually listened to my mum and dad a few times...I reckon we could just relax for the next decade or so and still have really interesting autobiographies."

"It's a plan," Scorpius grinned. They lapsed into a comfortable silence. Scorpius let his head fall against Albus's shoulder.

"All that and we're still together," Albus commented lightly.

Scorpius smiled. "Yeah. And thank Merlin for that."

"Absolutely."

Scorpius wasn't naïve enough to expect a decade of utter peace—he was dating a Potter, after all. But he wasn't worried much about what the future would bring. He and Albus had been through the worst of it, and as long as he had him, he felt confident that the good days would always outnumber the bad.