In the back of Rose's mind, she could hear the rational side of her begging to go back to sleep. As her mother had always told her, nothing good ever comes when you make decisions when you're angry. Her mother would often provide examples of foolish things her Uncle Harry and her father would do when angry that never really worked out. But right now, all those stories seemed to have left Rose's brain, because all she could focus on was being angry.

Today was New Year's day and the night before, all her dreams had been crushed by none other than her favorite little cousin Lily Potter.

Her fifth year cousin had stolen the seventh year boy that Rose had had a crush on for three years, and she was livid. Now, she wanted to know what rights Lily thought she had to take the boy of Rose's dreams.

Last night she had finally gathered enough courage to make her move, seeing as she didn't think he would ever get around to saying that he liked her. He was so shy. So she had downed a flute or two of champagne to get up her courage and then set out to find him as the last few hours of the year dwindle away. It was going to be romantic, like all the books she ever read and the movies she had seen. As the clock struck midnight they would kiss and sparks would fly, they would be together. But as she pushed her way through the crowded ballroom to find her true love, she began to get nervous. She couldn't find him and for this to be perfect she had to kiss him right at midnight.

The crowd began counting down, and Rose's heart rate began to speed up. Thankfully, a flash of blond caught the corner of her eye and she found him. As the last second of the year passed, she watched as Lily kissed Scorpius Malfoy.

Scorpius Malfoy had captured Rose's attention from the first moment that she had laid eyes on him, from the second her dad had spoke that warning against befriending the boy. Maybe it was the warning that peaked her interest. But all Rose knew was that she was so grateful that her Gryffindor cousin and best friend Albus had wanted to cross barriers and create scandal by befriending the Slytherin. It had allowed her to also become his friend and she fell in love. So her cousin's betrayal hurt.

The tears began flowing immediately when she saw the two wrapped in each other's arms. They were in the middle of the dance floor, not even trying to hide. Rose had even helped Lily get ready for the evening, curling her hair and applying her eyeliner. Lily was always the pretty one out of the two of them. She had a natural, flawless beauty that Rose had to spend hours in front of the mirror to even attempt to reach her level and she always fell short. It also didn't help that the press loved little princess Potter, with her grades that were leaked and posted in the paper (By the way Rose's were better) and her every move tracked. Rose had to try twice as hard and never seemed to get as much recognition as her cousin. The worst part was, all Lily did was complain about every time her name ended up in the paper. So it only made sense that Lily would decide that she could get the guy to.

Everyone knew that Scorpius was off limits, sure it wasn't explicitly stated, but they had been dancing around each other since their fourth year in school. How could Lily hurt her like this? Upset, Rose had run out of the ballroom into the transportation room full of fireplaces. She took the first available floo to get back home. She cried as she tore off the elegant dress and washed off her makeup. She traded in her tight bun that had loose curls framing her face to a messy knot that rested on the top of her head. Then, as fireworks were set off across the neighborhood surrounding her house, she fell asleep.

But when she woke up in the morning, it was a different story. Gone were the tears, replaced with that famous Weasley temper. She had always been seen as one of the more civil of the children, the diplomat that could give her Uncle Percy a run for her money, choosing to only raising her voice when in an argument with her father. She was pissed.

She quickly got ready in a pair of old jeans and a sweater. She fixed her hair that had gotten messed up during her sleep. Even in her angered state, she made sure there was not a hair out of place. She passed her mother who was reading a book with a quick, "I'm going to the Potters," hoping her voice didn't betray her feelings. She didn't want anyone stopping her. Seeing as her mother made no move to follow her, she figured she had succeeded.

The green flames of the floo system was ready for use and it didn't take long until Rose was able to recognize the den that was her Uncle Harry's and Aunt Ginny's home.

"Lily!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, not in the mood to go searching the house for her youngest cousin. "Where the hell are you?" She shouted again.

Rose heard the creak of the stairs and headed to see if the younger girl was making her way to the bottom floor of the house, instead she found her best friend and cousin, Albus.

"Rose? What the bloody hell are you doing here at 8 o'clock in the damn morning? And stop bleeding shouting, you're making my headache worse." As if for emphasis, he rubbed his forehead. Knowing her cousin, he had had more than a few drinks last night, but his drinking and how it looks to the public was something to lecture him about another day.

"Where is Lily?"Rose asked again, not calming down.

"How should I know? Have you checked the kitchen?" Albus lead the way, although at a much slower pace than Rose would prefer to the kitchen.

In the larger room, she didn't see Lily. Instead she found her Aunt and Uncle preparing breakfast together. "Rose dear, was that you shouting?" Her Aunt Ginny asked from her place at the stove where she was flipping a few slices of bacon cooking in front of her.

"Hello, I need to see Lily. Right now." She attempted to subdue her anger in front of the adults.

"She's out in the yard drinking tea I believe, with the dogs." Her Uncle replied while pulling his finished bread out of toaster.

"Thanks," She replied, trying her best to plaster a smile on her face. They didn't deserve her to be angry with them, even if their daughter was a tart and a traitor.

Taking a deep breath, she headed out the back yard to finally confront the girl.

Lily was sitting in an armchair that sat under a tarp, protective charms had been placed so that the snow that was currently falling didn't hit Lily and she had the outdoor fireplace on with a cup of tea in her hands. Lily was watching as the family's giant black lab was running back and forth in the snow. She looked happy, that only fueled Rose.

"You bitch!" Okay, so it wasn't the best way to start off the conversation, but it did the job of gaining Lily's attention.

"Excuse me?" Lily asked, confused as to how she could be the subject of so much hatred so early in the morning.

"How could you do that to me?"

"Do what?" Lily exclaimed. Lily placed her cup of tea on a coffee table in front of her and stood up in front of her cousin. "What have I done to you that has you storming in here calling me names?"

"YOU BLOODY STOLE HIM FROM ME!" Rose was screaming now. Angry that the girl before her could even admit to her wrongdoings.

"Stole who?" Lily's genuine confusion wasn't registering with Rose's anger.

"SCORPIUS MALFOY, THAT'S WHO." Understanding crossed over Lily's face and before she could suppress it, she started laughing. That is when Rose did something she had never done before, not when to Hugo when he was being annoying, not that guy who was drunk and kissed her a couple months back, not even when she was a kid and wasn't fully able to grasp what was going on. She slapped her cousin across the face.

Lily reeled back, unlike her cousin, she was very familiar with her Weasley temper. Lily had it in her genes coming from both sides of her family. Molly Weasley was one thing but add Lily Evans Potter into the mix and Lily Luna had a temper that could send even the bravest of men cower in fear.

"First of all," Lily stated in a low voice, recovering from the slap quickly, "If you ever touch me in any way that isn't a hug, I promise it will be the last time you use that hand. Secondly, you have no right to come into my house and yell at me. I have done nothing wrong and if you wanted a discussion you should have sent an owl and I would have penciled you in. But seeing as you are already here, and if you are willing to calm the hell down, maybe I can speak with you." Calmly, Lily picked up her tea and sat down with her legs curled under her.

"How can you just sit there when you betrayed me?" Rose asked, still angry but no longer shouting.

"I didn't betray you Rose. I met a boy, decided I liked him, go to know him, fell in love, and kissed him at midnight. I don't know where you fit in that equation, actually, I don't think you really have a place in it at all." Lily replied, taking a sip from her mug.

"You don't even know him. You two have never spent time together. God, did you guys even meet before this year?" Rose asked.

"Rose, he has spent entire weeks here, seeing as he is my brother's best friend and all. Hell, you've been here with him. I'm sorry if you were too busy working on your tan to notice our conversations. I will admit they may have been arbitrary the first couple of years, nothing more than how school, did you finish your homework, how great the weather is. But somewhere along the line, they got deeper, we were able to talk without being forced together. Then when we were paired at Teddy and Tori's wedding as bridesmaid and groomsman, well that was the last push I needed, I don't know about him."

This time it was Rose's turn to laugh. "Oh, honey," she said in a voice that made Lily want to slap her cousin this time. It was the tone that one uses when talking to a fool. "That was just him being nice. That doesn't mean he actually likes you. Now, he and I have been friends for a really long time. I know everything about him. His favorite colors are Slytherin green and black. He love bacon, he can't stand dancing. He is from old money and he wants to work for the ministry. He is a really good flier but despite Albus' insistent pleads he hates it. He is really private and has a bit of a bad boy streak with all the pranks he pulls with your brother and the girls he has been with. He is smart and he thinks little girls who drape themselves over them are a little pathetic." With that final sentence she implied that she was talking about the girl in front of her.

Lily just smiled at her cousin. "You think you know him. That his favorite colors are Slytherin Green and Black, but I know he only likes them out of house pride. His favorite color is a stormy blue, because he likes the idea of rain meaning a clean slate. I also know that he doesn't even like black, he prefers dark grey. They are similar colors yes, but dark grey shows a black that let light in. He thinks it's the perfect metaphor for his family after the war. He likes that it shows how people so consumed with darkness for so long can still open themselves up to the good, to the light. You think you know Scorpius, you think that you are in love with him, but you're not. You've never liked him Rosie." Rose flinched at the use of the nickname and knew that it was a dig at how Rose had spoke to her a minute or two previously.

"You liked the idea of him. The fact that the two of you together would drive your father crazy, you fell in love with the bad boy image. You liked that the two of you falling in love would be one of those forbidden romances. You liked that he was smart but never smarter than you. You wanted the money and the lifestyle that came along with dating a Malfoy. The celebrity because you thought it would mean finally not being a Weasley. It's like you've learned nothing from all the stories, because as my father could have told you, the money means nothing. The fame is annoying. Having your name and life and every move you make, it's impossible to have a free moment." Lily looked up at her cousin who stood in front of her motionless and behind her cousin she could see her parents and brothers standing against the door that divided the backyard from the inside of the house, they all looked shocked except for Albus who just looked deep in thought. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Albus turn away from the back door and went out of sight.

"But the man that I fell in love with, he's not like the person you described at all. I'm in love with the boy who refuses to eat bacon on any day but Sunday because he sees it as a treat for making it through the week and something to look forward. I'm in love with the boy who hates waking up early, and I mean he stuggles to get up for his 9 a.m. classes and it's almost impossible to get him awake at a decent hour on Christmas morning. But one of his favorite things in the world is sunrises, especially those that showcase the sun hitting the great lake just right. I'm in love with the boy who actually wanted to be in the Slytherin house, not to follow in his father's footsteps but prove that you could be in that house and not end up like so many had before him. The guy who has forced his father to give their money away, he really doesn't care about the inheritance and is ready to work for his living. I'm in love with the boy who would give up everything just to fly, he loves it more than anything in the world. He also loves quidditch, he just never had any interest in playing. That's why he said no to Albus all those times, he just really didn't want to play. And it's not that he is private, in fact if you pay attention, he shares a lot about himself, you just never cared enough to listen to a word he was saying if it wasn't about fame or status or you. But if there is one thing you were probably right about, it the fact that he really does hate it when girls become obsessed with him when all he was doing was being nice. However, what he hates even more is when people pretend to know him but really haven't cared to even talk to him like he's a person. And maybe Scorpius doesn't feel the same way I do, but don't think I stole him from you, he was never really yours to begin with." Lily finished what she had to say and then turned back to watch the snow falling.

For the first time since waking up this morning, or maybe even since the party last night, Rose sat down to digest what was happening. Could Lily be right?

Before Rose even had time to truly process what was going on, the back door slid open and both girls looked up to see the reason why.

Scorpius took a few steps out, looking embarrassed. He, like both the girls before him, had been thinking about the kiss and it's implications all night. The last thing he thought was going to happen was his best friend flooing him this morning to say that his sister and cousin were fighting over them. He had got there just as Lily had started the second half of her rant, and was relieved to hear all the reasons that she felt the exact same way as she did.

With one look, Rose knew that everything she had been told this morning was true. Scorpius had never looked at her like that, she highly doubted he would ever look at a girl that wasn't Lily like that ever. They were meant to be. And it shocked Rose to realize that she was okay with that.

Embarrassed, Rose bowed her head and made her way into the Potter household. She didn't say a word as she passed her Aunt and Uncle. She walked by James and made a quick stop at Albus. She looked him in the eyes and saw an apology written across her face. Instead of yelling at him for getting Scorpius involved like he expected, she mouthed a quick, "Thank you". Then Rose continued to make her way out of the house.

Let me know what you think. Thanks,
The Storywriter.