Disclaimer

I do not own anything except for the plot. No copyright infringement intended.

Chapter 1

"Scor, wait up!" Rose ran behind her best friend trying to get his attention. She had only had a few opportunities to talk to him since Christmas. Their prefect duties did not help bring them together since she was in Gryffindor and he was in Slytherin.

At last, he turned around and noticed her. "Hey you, I haven't seen you in ages. Have you been hiding out with Belby?" he said with a frown slowing his pace and allowing her to catch up. Scorpius and Albus, her favorite cousin, made no secret of the fact that they couldn't stand her boy friend of two years, Ian Belby.

Rose rolled her eyes. "Ha ha! Enough with the Ian bashing. You should be over that grudge after two years!"

"You know I have nothing against him. It's just that he's a bit of a pansy. I have no idea how you tolerate him." Scorpius stopped to tweak her reddish brown bush of hair.

"Ouch! I really hate you sometimes. Is it because of Ian you and Albus have been ignoring me lately?" She made a sad puppy dog face which made Scorpius laugh uproariously.

"Not funny!" She swatted his arm. "Well, you didn't answer my question." She looked up at him expectantly. It sometimes amazed her how Albus and Scorpius who were barely her height a few years ago had grown so much taller in the last year.

"Rose, you know we haven't been ignoring you. But we've been quite busy, what with quidditch practises and prefect duties and all. If we were in the same house, at least we'd have quidditch and patrols together. It doesn't help that you spend every spare moment with Belby," he said somewhat bitterly and turned away from her.

"Scor… I really miss you. I wish things could go back to how they used to be." She grabbed his arm and forced him to face her. "I know you guys don't like Ian, but can't you at least make an effort for my sake? Then we can hang out together during this Hogsmeade weekend."

At the sound of running foot steps behind them, Scorpius turned around to see Ian Belby and rolled his eyes. "Speak of the devil! Rose, listen, I'm late for quidditch and Al will be annoyed. Do you want to meet me in the Room of Requirements later in the night, maybe after dinner? Albus has a date."

"Of course, I'll come." She leaned in to peck him on the cheek. He grabbed her hand and gave it a good squeeze.

"I really miss you too, you know. I hate having to share you with that wanker."

"Scorpius… No name calling, please? I'll see you in the night then." She squeezed back and turned around to greet her boyfriend who had almost caught up with them.

"Hey Rosie."

Rose cringed. She never seemed to be able to convince him that she hated that nick name.

"Malfoy," he nodded at Scorpius who nodded back and walked off with a wave over his shoulder at Rose. She watched him go with a sigh.

"Rosie, what were you doing with Malfoy?" Ian scowled.

"Well, he is one of my best friends. And I've been really missing them." She forced a smile on her face and linked arms with Ian. "What do you say we make use of one of the deserted classrooms along the charms corridor?" Despite his somewhat patronising attitude towards her, Rose still cared about Ian and was attracted to him. He was an extremely good looking Ravenclaw with dark brown hair and almost black eyes.

"I don't have anywhere else I need to be. Let's go." He grabbed her arm and pulled her to his side. She put her head on his shoulder and snuggled up to him.

In the empty classroom…

Rose lay on the teacher's desk pulling Ian towards her with his Hogwarts tie. They had been making out for over fifteen minutes and she felt more than ready to take things a little further. Despite having been together for two years and taken part in a few intense snogging sessions, Ian had never even attempted to feel her up over her clothes which frustrated her.

"Rosie, we should stop." He broke free and rested his forehead on hers.

Rose grabbed his hands and put them over her breasts. "Don't stop. I want this." She wriggled underneath him.

"I know you don't mean that. This is wrong. We should get back." He removed his hands and got off of her. Rose's feelings of inadequacy and frustration multiplied each time he refused her advances. She had been getting increasingly… horny, she made herself think the word and Ian always left her hanging every time they started snogging, stopping before things went any further. She was starting to wonder if she just was not attractive enough. With her slim figure and bushy hair, she was hardly a beauty queen. Her small breasts and narrow hips made her look much younger than her age. Feeling tears threatening to spill out, she pursed her lips together and got off the desk.

"It's alright. I'm supposed to meet Scorpius soon anyway. I haven't had a chance to talk to him this whole term." She tried to tame her wild hair and straightened up her uniform.

"I'm going to meet Matt then. I'm sorry Rosie, but I don't feel comfortable doing…" He refused to look at her.

"No no, I understand. I'll see you tomorrow." She gave him a nod and walked out of the classroom holding her tears in. It was about an hour before dinner time and she didn't feel like facing anyone in the Great Hall. She walked towards the seventh floor corridor where the Room of Requirements was located and walked past the tapestry willing it to turn into her, Scorpius' and Albus' favorite hideout.

When the door magically appeared and she walked in, she was instantly calmed by the cozy fire and the rustic leather furniture strewn about the room. Their favorite board games were lying in a stack on the coffee table. She plopped herself down on the fluffy sofa and put her head in her arms. Tears were refusing to cooperate with her efforts to hold them in and she let them go, crying wholeheartedly. She knew Scorpius won't be coming before he had his dinner. So she still had a few hours to get herself together.

"Rose." A cold hand on her forehead woke her up from her slumber and she cracked her eyes open halfway sleepily.

"Scor?" She sat up abruptly. "I'm so sorry, I must've fallen asleep. I've been so tired lately." She yawned and forced herself completely awake. Scorpius sat down next to her on the sofa and put his arm around her.

"It's okay. You can sleep some more if you want. I know you've been tired. You work yourself too hard you know?" He dropped a kiss on her hair.

"It's alright." She felt the tears trying to get the better of her again and looked down at her stocking clad feet. Scorpius took her chin in his hand and forced her to look up at him. "Rose, you've been crying." It was a statement. She could never hide her feelings from Scorpius and Albus. They knew her too well.

"It's nothing. I'm just being silly." She gave him a watery smile and fiddled with the hem of her skirt.

"Is it Belby? I swear if he did anything to hurt you-"Rose cut him off by putting a hand on his mouth. "It's not him, atleast not directly him. It's just that…" She could feel a blush spreading across her cheeks.

"What is it then? You know you can tell me. I won't even tell Al."

She looked away. "Scor, do you think I'm attractive?" The question left her lips abruptly. Scorpius seemed to really consider her question. "Yes, you are," he told her seriously.

"Are you just saying that because I'm your friend or do you really mean that?" She looked at him earnestly.

"I really mean that Rose. You are very very pretty, and you are brilliant, and you are bloody good at quidditch. All of which add to your attractiveness." He wrapped his arms around her. "Who said you weren't? Belby?"

"No no, he didn't say that." She put her head on his chest with a sigh. "But… whenever we… you know… we try to, okay, I try to initiate something, he jumps up and walks off."

"What do you mean?" He regarded her with narrowed eyes.

"You know! I want… Sometimes when we snog, I want… other things. And it makes me really frustrated when he… he says it's too soon or he doesn't want to. I thought maybe he just wasn't attracted to me. That's one of the reasons I've been so tired lately. I'm… well, too frustrated to sleep." Her face was a startling crimson after this admission and she avoided looking up at Scorpius. "Please don't think I'm a scarlet woman or anything like that. I don't know why I feel like this. Is it wrong?"

Rose could see comprehension dawning on Scorpius' face.

"Rose, you are sixteen and you've been with him for two years. I don't think you are a scarlet woman. But people have urges. It's totally normal." He ran his fingers through his white blond hair contemplatively. "If I ask you something, will you promise you won't smack me?"

"Haha, I haven't smacked you in years and you know that." Rose was beyond relieved that Scorpius hadn't got the wrong idea about her.

"Ok, you know how you said you feel… frustrated?"

"Yes?"

"Well, have you tried to…" he cut himself off, took his arms from around her and placed them on his lap.

"Tried to what?" He was blushing now.

"You can actually…" He looked up at her. "Ok, screw this awkwardness. I'm just going to say it. Have you tried relieving yourself? That might make you feel better."

Rose could feel the blush spreading over her ears. "WHAT?"

"Rose, it's just me. You don't have to be embarrassed. Guys do it all the time you know? It's a natural thing."

"Hmmm… alright, I'll tell you. I did try once. But, it didn't… I mean I couldn't… you know! Please don't make me say it." Rose covered her face with her hands and Scorpius pried them loose. "You look really cute when you are embarrassed."

"That's such a cliché thing to say." She stuck her tongue out at him.

He burst out laughing. "I know. At least it cheered you up a little bit."

"Fine! I actually do feel better now." She smiled up at him. "I was feeling really horrible thinking I'm as bad as those sluts in our year who constantly follow you and Al around. I mean, here I am trying to throw myself at my saintly boyfriend."

"He's not a saint, he's an idiot, that's what he is." He put his arms around her again. "So why don't you try again? Maybe you couldn't… because you kept thinking it's wrong. Maybe next time it'll work?"

"The problem is, I really don't know how to do it properly. I mean, unlike you guys, I don't have a stack of dirty magazines I can use to get myself off," she said with a smirk, reminding him of the time she had walked in on him and Al in the middle of swapping pictures of naked witches at Uncle Harry's house. He had the grace to look embarrassed. "Rose, I swear, those magazines were not mine. We weren't swapping pictures. Al was forcing his pictures on me. And you don't need dirty magazines or anything like that. As long as you have a good imagination…" He leered at her.

"Since you are such an expert, why don't you teach me?" The words were out of Rose's mouth before she realised their meaning and she blushed to the roots of her hair. Scorpius looked flabbergasted, but seemed to be considering what she said.

"Rose, do you trust me?" He forced her to look at his face.

"Of course I do, I've known you for ages… and we've been friends for so long."

"Then maybe I can help you with this?"

"But how can you help me? Wouldn't it be awkward?" Rose put her hands in his.

"It will only be awkward if we let it be. It's not like I have to be with you when you… I can just help you out by telling you how to… and things to think about. Do you still have the two way parchment I got you for your birthday last year?"

"Yes, of course I have it. We never had a chance to use it this year, you know?"

"So we can use that. Tonight, if you want?" He looked uncertain.

"Hmmm… I would really like a good night's sleep. Do you really think it'll work? And what do I have to do?"

"Well, it might work. We can always try. Just when you get back to your dorm tonight, get into bed and send me a message with the parchment. I'll wait up for you." He tucked her hair behind her ears. "If you don't want to do this, you can always change your mind."

"Well, I do trust you Scor. We can try this and see. I've been so on edge lately, it'll be nice to get some relief." She smiled back at him. "It's almost curfew now. Shall we head back?"

"Of course, do you want me to walk you to the tower?"

"I think you should get back to your dorm as soon as possible if you want to help me tonight." She gave him a wink.