"I didn't mean to hurt you, really." Rose justified her words. Enchanted by what she had seen in him, she had stared at him for a few seconds too long. Her throat was dry, unable to find a way to connect with him without crossing the limits. "You're not the cold and stern father that Scorpius has always described to me, but I think he needed the unconditional love of a woman. Without his mother, there was only me."