Transitions Chapter 2: Best Friends, a harry potter fanfic

Hey, everybody! So this is part 2, Best Friends. If you didn't look at the chapter titles, this evolves by stage in relationship, so you can pretty much guess what the next part will be called. Nevertheless, I hope everybody liked part 1; the few reviews I got from it were very positive and encouraged me to start on this immediately.

I'm going to stop wasting your time with exposition. Onwards to the fic!

Scorpius Malfoy had no idea when he became enamored with one Rose Weasley. Perhaps it was the first time she asked him to pass a paper in their study hall. Perhaps it was when he saw her laugh at one of Lily's jokes. Perhaps it was even on the first train car, when the world was still small and fresh and he was only Scorpius, not a slytherin.

Regardless, since the start of his career at Hogwarts, he liked her. Probably a great deal more than he ought to.

Bugger.

Now, she was his friend. His and Al's and James' and Lily's and An's and Penny's and a whole slew of other peoples', but his friend too. And he was honestly surprised he had miraculously made the cut for her friendship, because she was bloody brilliant at everything and clearly him being friends with Al was one of the sticking points for their childhood friendship. But again, regardless, he still liked her entirely too much and loved having her around.

Therein lied the problem; being simply friends with somebody you thought the world of.

And that's when they started to go from friends to best friends.

"This has got to be the biggest compartment I've ever seen," Rose gasped, looking up and down the enormous car. Scorpius tried (and failed) to bite back a grin, because yes, yes it was, and he practically scoured the train nearly an hour ahead of time in order to sit in and reserve it. Damn it all, their entire group was going to sit together this time, with no holding up a slumping James, no squeezing almost beyond comfort, no ending up in someone else's lap the second a bump in the tracks occurs. They would finally all have leg room for once, and the idea alone made his heart soar with relief.

Each side of the compartment had a padded chair connected to the wall, just like any other compartment, but in here, the benches on either side would easily fit eight students, and therefore life could precede as usual.

Rose and Hugo, since Hermione Granger was always sure to get her family to the platform spot-on time, were the first to get there after Scorpius. So naturally, Rose had to be the first to point out the obvious upgrade to their Hogwarts Express experience.

"Woah," Hugo said, almost dumbstruck, turning in slow circles around the car. He was entering third year, and his brown hair was finally starting to grow out. "This is amazing, Ro. I want to sit here every time." Rose smiled and took his bag, shoving it into the overhead compartment with her luggage.

"You said it," she responded in kind, starring at Scorpius. "How did you do it?" He shrugged, perfectly well aware of the fact that he was grinning like an idiot. "You didn't come ahead early, did you? How long were you waiting on the train?"

"A magician never reveals his secrets, Rose."

"You're no party magician, Scorpius," she rebutted, crossing her arms.

"No, but I'm training to be a wizard, and those titles are pretty interchangeable," he asserted, and she huffed. The redhead hated loosing, and in the few times she did, he couldn't help but love her reaction. It was always so dramatic. "When do you think Al, James, and Lily are going to show?" he asked, attempting to change the subject for her benefit.

"Soon, I hope," she informed, looking significantly less pouty. Success. "Our parents tend to meet up after dropping us off, and Uncle Harry knows better than to keep Mum waiting. It's essentially a death sentence."

"If she's anything like you, I can only imagine." She shoved him, smiling, and he laughed.

"Shut up, you idiot."

"As you wish." Hugo rolled his eyes in the background and smirked directly at Scorpius after this exchange. The slytherin pretended not to notice.

In a few short minutes, Albus and co did indeed materialize in the car, followed closely by Penny, who Albus had insisted should sit by him, and Miranda, who asked if she could bring some people in with her. When everyone agreed that they had more than enough space, the ravenclaw brought in her cousin Tammy (so that was how they knew eachother) and another friend Rose had never met before, Claire. As everyone began to get situated, a friend of Hugo's ended up wandering in, and once again their arrangements changed.

Scorpius watched as they all piled in, taking mental note of where everybody had sat. On the left side, Claire sat near the door with James on her other side, and following James was Lily, who was caught between him and Hugo, whose friend (Scorpius later learned her name was Faye, because over 50% of the people in their social group at any time had to be female) sat by the window. On the other side, where he sat, Tammy was against the panel next to the door, Miranda was at her side (which made sense, because the two could easily talk with Claire from across the aisle), Rose was next to Miranda, finally followed by him, Penny, and then Albus, because tearing Albus away from a window was a recipe for disaster.

"I think we need more boys in the group, Al," Scorpius whispered over Penny the moment the blonde was remotely distracted. She had begun listening to music on an outdated iPod, and therefore this was the only opportunity he would get to talk with an undistracted Albus.

"Maybe, but I think we're all fine," the fellow slytherin grinned, looking around the compartment with a smile. "I kinda like it this way."

"Are you saying that because you think Rose and Lily might hear, or because of An?"

"A little bit of Rose and Lily, really," he defended, but after a moment he reconsidered. "Having Penny join the group was a really good idea, though."

"Of course it was, mate," Scorpius clucked, shaking his head, silently grateful for Penny's muggle earbuds. "You realize you're forgetting Miranda in that, too? She's been regularly hanging out with us for over half of last year." Albus shrugged.

"Yeah, but she's not my cousin or my future girlfriend. Therefore she didn't need mentioning," he retorted with a bad attempt at a dignified sniff. Albus and dignified simply didn't mix, no matter how hard you shoved the two together. Oh well, perhaps there would be hope for him in the future.

"Future girlfriend?"

"Oh . . . the world probably knows I like her at this point." His face was bright red, and again, Scorpius lamented on how lucky his best friend was that Penny wasn't paying one iota of attention to them at the moment. "As James saw fit to tell me, I'm sure it was 'painfully obvious'. I just hope that she doesn't figure it out just yet."

"Painfully obvious is an understatement, Al." He would've clapped a hand on Al's back, but it was impossible with the strawberry blonde in the way. "At least you've finally found someone as emotionally oblivious as you." The bespeckled boy scowled and Rose took this as a signal to join the conversation.

"Who's emotionally oblivious?" she butted in.

"Albus, and most likely Penny. As much as I like her as a human being, she has to be pretty oblivious not to notice how Albus gets around her," Scorpius explained, looking smugly at the bespeckled boy.

"Oh, yeah. She wouldn't know what a boy crushing on her would look like even if somebody stood up and asked her out now," Rose agreed heartily. "It's one of the first things you notice about her; she doesn't notice any of that frivolity."

"Hear that, Al? Maybe you have a chance after all," Scorpius grinned, taking far too much amusement out of this. Rose's cousin simply frowned darkly.

"I hate you both." And with that, Albus stuck out his tongue and went back to the window.

The remainder of the ride was spent on three things, the first of which was getting to know Tammy. She really had seemed nice the few times when Scorpius interacted with her in classes, and despite her slytherin nature, she was every bit as sweet and compassionate as Miranda herself, albeit with a flair of mischief. She also looked quite a bit like her cousin, having the same dark hair and light cocoa complexion, but her eyes were a deep green and she appeared a little shorter and rounder. Actually, it was remarkable that he hadn't placed them as cousins before.

The second was watching James argue with Claire. Like Miranda, she appeared to be a quidditch fanatic, which instantly lead to a series of heated debated with James over the sport and which professional team was best. Already she was bright red in the face, dirty blonde hair probably getting in her mouth, violet/blue eyes (there was no other way to describe them, because they were essentially purple with hints of blue, as if someone had tie-dyed them; it was actually slightly terrifying in the moment) practically on fire, and her shirt untucked. Previously her hands had been in her lap, but within seconds they had been flailing around in time with her speech and she fought with the stubborn Potter boy. Though the squabble was unnecessarily intense, it was entertaining enough to watch, and so many precious minutes were wasted viewing Miranda's friend feud.

The last (and most enjoyable) part of the train ride was talking to Rose, which was an activity that took up a good 2/3 of their duration on the trip. Though they had seen eachother several times over the summer accompanied by other Potter-Weasley clan members, they continued catching up while everyone else was distracted. Penny had finally put her device away and began chatting with Albus, to nobody's surprise, as they were the only ones who could keep up with eachother's quidditch nonsense. Hugo and Faye slid from subject to subject with Lily, who had already deemed them 'adorable' and was probably thinking up ways to match-make them. As Claire and James were already preoccupied, only Tammy and Miranda were left unscathed, but they too began recounting family stories from the past summer, leaving Scorpius alone with Rose.

He didn't even pretend to be dissapointed. He kinda liked having her undivided attention all to himself.

As they arrived at Hogwarts, he felt brave, so he kissed her cheek. The redhead laughed a little at that, accused him of being a flatterer, and continued onto the gryffindor dorms with a warm goodbye to all her other friends. Only Lily looked back and winked at the slytherin, who had been waiting with Albus. He didn't know how he felt about Lily referring to . . . whatever that was with Rose, but he figured it was probably harmless. They were all just growing closer as friends.

"The world is revolving around quidditch, Al," Scorpius groaned, sitting down in the hallway with his fellow slytherin. "I don't know why it is, but it's a unifying factor in our friend group, we've already tried out for the team, and one of the major things we all do together is watch the games. Why do we all care so much about this stupid sport?" Albus shrugged.

"Quidditch can be fun, and girls like quidditch players."

"By girls you mean Penny."

"Well, okay, now I do. But I thought girls would dig quidditch players before I even met Pen. I already decided to try out and drag you into this with me long before I liked her specifically," Albus protested, to which Scorpius could only bob his head politely.

"But now it's about Penny specifically, right?" His companion held out for a few seconds before sighing and lowering his head in defeat.

"Now it's about Penny."

"Good to know," he replied with misleading causality, looking around the nearly deserted hall. "You're sure the results are going to be posted here? In this hallway? In this off hour? Because we haven't seen squat yet and ten minutes have already flown by." The bespeckled boy readjusted his position on the floor before giving up and letting his legs lie straight on the ground.

"Yes, I'm sure. Why are you in such a rush to know?"

"Because the sooner I know I didn't make it on the team, the sooner I can start celebrating. I had to learn positions and plays and regulations for this stupid sports team, Al. I don't want to suffer anymore by actually putting them into use."

"Quidditch isn't that bad."

"Says you," the pale-haired teen added. "And you actually want to play. I'm just along for the hopefully brief ride."

"Suit yourself, mate, I hope I get in." Just then, the slytherin quidditch captain, Harold Zabini, came around with a scroll, charming it to the wall. Albus practically bolted forwards, and a reluctant Scorpius walked slowly to the paper behind him. After scanning the parchment intensely, Al grinned up at his friend. "I'm in! I got chaser!" The Potter proceeded to whoop loudly in the corridor, causing the other slytherin to wince. Scorpius sincerely hoped nobody else would pay attention to them.

"Let's see if I'm - " His sentence was never completed, because at the top of the sheet in thick black lettering was his name. Under the position of seeker.

He signed up for beater.

There had to be a mistake.

Luckily, Harold hadn't left yet, so Scorpius snatched the results off the wall and ran up to the sixth year captain, crumpled sheet in hand.

"I think there's been an error with the results, Harold. It says I'm the team seeker, and I tried out for beater," he informed him. Harold merely raised an eyebrow as if wondering where the point in that was. "And even then I wasn't expecting to get in," he added lamely.

"Look, the rounds this year weren't all that good," Harold told him with a sigh. "You, actually, were a pretty decent beater. You would've done fine on the team. But beaters were in high stock this year, and to be a beater you already need to be quick, agile, aware of your surroundings, and have good hand-eye coordination. Only two people tried out for seeker, neither of which were all that good. Thus I made you a seeker." Harold, feeling that everything had been thoroughly explained, proceeded to leaving, which left Scorpius in utter shock by the flyer.

"But . . . but I . . . " he sputtered. Albus reassured him in his coma-like state with comforting words and a pat on the shoulder.

When Rose and the others finally saw the haunted look in his eyes hours later come lunch, she gave him a hug and proceeded to share in his suffering.

She was a good friend.

"The first trip to Broomsticks with the whole group - this is the start of a legacy," Scorpius proclaimed. Technically, after a fire broke out in the defense against the dark arts course and the herbology greenhouse was somehow overrun with locusts, classes were canceled and they had been allowed to roam wherever, so they had been walking around Hogsmead as a group for the last several hours already. But they hadn't yet stopped at the Three Broomsticks, so this outing was incomplete. Finally, Miranda voiced her hunger, then James, who had then gotten into a fight with Claire over who deserved food more. Though Tammy and Lily had attempted to break them up, seeing as they were calling far too much attention to themselves, James refused to quiet down and Claire said she wouldn't until he did.

Yes, miraculously Claire and Tammy had joined their self-appointed Hogwarts group after only having met everyone three months ago. Through some inexplicable chain of events, they had become regulars amongst the self-proclaimed 'gang'. Scorpius, sadly, had grown used to Tam's quiet presence that countered An's extroverted nature, and she and Lily had become fast friends as well. The same went for Claire, who had quickly settled into the roll of 'James' arch nemesis' without so much as a second thought.

"They're at it again," Rose sighed at his side. Prior to this moment, when Miranda, Lily, and Tammy decided to go shopping, the remaining boys groaned. After a second, Claire shrugged and followed them in, not wanting to wait for an hour outside the shop, and James declared that she wasn't escaping from their argument so easily, so he went after her. Hugo laughed, said something about 'not missing the action', and turned into the entrance without another word. However, Rose had no interest in going clothes shopping, Penny declared she was fine, Albus' eyes practically lit up (because let's face it, everybody wanted a girl like Penny as it was, but knowing that she hated shopping just added to the appeal), and Scorpius was just happy he didn't have to go in there and hold somebody's bags. If anyone had asked him to, he would have felt contractually obligated to do so.

Rose told him that was stupid, and she was right. It didn't get rid of the hypothetical guilt, though.

After another half hour of waiting on a lonesome bench outside the store, the girls emerged, all of them carrying a bag except for Claire, who was smirking as she watched James haul out her items with a scowl.

"She tricked me," he seethed, frowning deeply. "I know she did."

"Who? Claire?" Scorpius had asked.

"She used a charm on me or something! One minute we were talking and the next minute I somehow was mind-controlled into carrying her stuff!" he protested loudly, almost appearing betrayed.

It was at this moment that Rose leaned over and whispered next to his ear, "He likes her. He has to, with the way they've been arguing."

"Ahh," he responded, realization dawning on him.

"What was that?" James asked suspiciously. "Were you two - "

"I'm starving," Miranda declared, and thus they were on their way, bringing them to present time. Rose had just referred to any illusive 'they're' so the slytherin could play the pronoun game.

"Who? James and Claire? I mean, we're in the restaurant, and they've been 'at it' since they met," Scorpius told her, brow furrowed in confusion. She waved a hand in front of her in a gesture. He still didn't get it.

"No, Lily. And now Miranda, actually, but mostly Lily," Rose informed, shuddering slightly in her seat. "Gosh, the way she's looking at us . . . " Scorpius glanced over at Lily and did indeed feel instantly uncomfortable. The younger redhead was smiling incredibly brightly, and Scorpius was reminded with a start about that wink as they got off the Hogwarts Express. Something about this seemed strangely familiar.

Realizing her presence was noticed, Lily looked away, and so did Miranda after flashing them a quick grin. Odd.

"That was weird," he told her with a dry laugh, and she nodded too, a small smile stretching at her lips.

"Very." The situation they had introduced themselves to made it so that everybody was sitting in almost the exact same positions as they were on the train. Claire, then James, then Lily, but Miranda was sitting next to her, followed by Tammy. At the start of the row on the other side was Rose, then Scorpius, then Penny and Albus, and Hugo remained at the end. Everyone had split into unofficial groups when they sat down; Lily and Miranda continued to giggle about something, Tammy and Hugo were talking by process of elimination, Albus was hanging onto every word Penny spoke, and James was heatedly conversing with Claire, just like he had been all day, but there was a grin forming on his face as he talked to the blonde.

Rose's hunch was correct. He definitely had a thing for her.

"My relatives sure do have a thing for blondes," she finally said, gazing at the little family they've created for themselves. After a year or two, or even a couple of months, most people start to count their friends as unofficial family members anyhow, and Scorpius was pleasantly surprised to realize that the same was true for him. He really cared about these people.

Wow.

"Well, does that mean a certain redhead we both know is going to start getting an illusive 'thing' for me, too?" he teased, trying to lighten the mood. With the dim lighting and cozy atmosphere of the local joint, he had somehow started to become comfortable being completely sentimental, and that seemed a little too heavy for a simple outing with fellow students.

"Oh, Lily isn't going to fall for you in a million years," Rose snorted, starting to laugh. "Your hair is far too pale for that." Though he laughed along with her, a small part of him wondered if she actually knew who he was referring to.

A round of butter beers is ordered for everyone, and soon lunch is served up as well. There are no central meals isolated to one person; instead several big appetizers are placed in the middle an extra plates are brought, so everyone is reaching over eachother to grab things off of platters. Nachos and garlic bread and fruit and fondue and a whole slew of other things are piled in, and although he hadn't been there in nearly a year, Scorpius hardily approved of their makeshift lunch. Albus pays, because the Potters are richer than god, and even though Scorpius offered to help with the bill James reached across the table and shoved him down without another word. Rose laughs yet again at Scorpius' duped face, as if somebody had just pulled a nasty prank on him, and for some reason her teasing makes him feel better about it.

As they all leave with full stomachs, they don't go back instantly. Hugo recommends the Shrieking Shack, and Rose squeals and admits she always wanted to visit, so off they all go without a second thought. This happens with several people numerous times, almost to the point of absurdity since everyone has acknowledged that they are only saying things to avoid ending the adventure. Saying goodbye means going back to Hogwarts and facing classwork the next day, and this was one of those great days you remember for years afterwards.

Eventually, after procrastinating long enough to justify ordering dinner (at which point they go back to the Three Broomsticks, and the waiter gives them funny looks because he just knows he's already seen them that day, but it's fine after all since the food is so great) they all have to admit that it's time to head back up to their dorms and call it a night. James once again carries Claire's purchases, but this time he doesn't mind so much and her smirk is far softer. Lily and Tam have linked arms and are walking just behind everybody else, trapped in their own little world. Miranda has slung an arm over Hugo's shoulder, and they're laughing about some joke, and finally Albus and Penny lead the pack, Al making a serious attempt to not blush every time their hands brush.

Rose is still at his side, the way she has remained all day long, and he reaches over to squeeze her hand for no reason at all. She squeezes back, smiling a little at him as they go.

It's been a great day.

"What is the final ingredient used to complete a polyjuice potion?" Scorpius read off Rose's notecards. This was a milestone in their friendship.

You see, she never asked anybody to help her study. Never. She always studied by herself or questioned teachers about things she was unclear about. The fact that she begged him to help her cram for an exam in the morning was incredibly flattering, despite how small and menial the task may be.

"A hair or some other sort of identifying substance from the person you wish to impersonate," Rose finished after a split second of concentration. "But hairs are the easiest to use and are typically the most compatible article to accommodate the potion." He clapped quietly, at which point she smiled shyly. "Oh, stop it. These are the easy ones. I'm not going to do all that well on the harder questions."

"You? Not do well?" Scorpius couldn't help himself - he started laughing hysterically, trying not to be loud since they were currently in the middle of the library, but failing miserably. "Ro, you're going to do fine. Better than fine, actually, if your grades so far are any indication of your knowledge in the class."

"But I'm actually really worried about this one," she whined. "I need the practice!"

"People like me need practice," Scorpius responded with a fond roll of his eyes. "I'm no slacker - heck, on the OWLs I got a 95 - but even I can't hope to retain information like this in such huge chunks without studying. You, on the other hand, soak it up like a sponge. For example, what is the difference between a griffin and a hypogriff?"

"A griffin is a mythic crossbreed between birds and lions, but hypogriffs stem from birds and horses. Everybody knows that," she recited. "What was the point of me saying that?"

"That was probably the hardest question on the exam, Rosie. You're going to do just fine, so stop stressing about it." With that, the slytherin got out of his chair and walked over to hers. The redhead cocked her head in confusion. He proceeded to pulling her up and grabbing her hand. "C'mon, let's go do something."

"Scorp," she groaned. "I need to pass this thing."

"You've got nothing to be worried about, trust me. Now, let's go." He didn't really have a plan for where he would take her, but she seemed so stressed out that he figured anything to take her mind off of it would be fine. With reluctance, she allowed him to drag her away, forgetting about her bag and notes, and within a few minutes she was walking right along side him.

"Where are you taking me?"

"Away," he hummed noncommittally, and she smirked.

"No, really?"

"Yes, really, actually. We left the library, so now we are away. Just consider walking around with me an adventure."

"Some adventure," she snorted, then crinkled her nose because she hated her snorts. Scorpius didn't mind; after a while, they had become rather endearing, he liked to think. "I walk around the school every day."

"Not like this," he told her, a stroke of genius hitting him. He let go of her hand and went sprinting down the hall, shouting, "Catch me if you can, Weasley!" The gryffindor laughs at him like he's insane, and maybe he is, because he's never this stupid and impulsive around anyone but her.

It's starting to be a problem, but as she chases after him, he finds he really doesn't mind.

The first quidditch game of the season takes place, and Scorpius would rather be hiding beneath the field. Al is by his side, also hovering above the ground on his broomstick, but he seems a lot more excited about this revelation. Mentally, the slytherin is just mentally counting down seconds until the game will start, because the sooner it starts, the quicker he can leave.

3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . .

"GO!" is yelled by the sixth year that records play-by-plays, and so the match commences. The balls are released into the air and the crowd roars with enthusiasm. These games took nearly an hour last year since the seekers weren't so good, and now, Scorpius is seriously doubting his ability to pull this off. He really didn't want to be here. This is borderline torture, and he probably won't be any good anyhow.

"YOU CAN DO IT, SCOR! MOVE ALREADY!" shouts a voice, and Scorpius, honestly surprised anybody would be cheering him on at all, turns to figure out where it came from. He doesn't know why he's surprised, but he is. Very surprised indeed.

Because right in the center stand lies the whole group, with Rose screaming the loudest of all of them. Rose Weasley, one of his closest friends, the girl who only tolerates quidditch, is the most worked up out of all of them, so prominent that he could discern her from across the stadium.

He fell a little bit in love with her right there.

It's not like the others were quiet, either. Hugo, to Rose's left, is practically shouting at the top of his lungs, and James and Claire (because in the group, where James is just happens to be where Claire finds herself, and vice versa) were crying out encouragements to the slytherin team together, as if they finally found something to agree on. Lily, Miranda, Penny, and Tammy, all of which adorned the row directly above Rose, had somehow made signs to show their support. Each one has a different word, and together they read: LET'S GO SLYTHERIN HOUSE!

It's all so much more than he was expecting, and although he knows that they're all cheering for Albus as well (especially Penny, he notes with a smile, reminding himself to tell Al about that later), he can't help but feel a little touched that they care enough.

Then he remembers that, oh yeah, he's in the middle of a game. A game in which everyone needs him to win.

Right.

Oh, don't mind me, I'm just the most important player in the entire team, even though I would rather be literally anywhere else. Like in the stands, next to Rose. Maybe if he fell right now and broke a bone they would let him leave. Could I even break a bone careening into the stands? Wouldn't magic just fix me up?

It appeared he would actually have to try. Fantastic.

With a hefty sigh of resignation, he began to fly around the field in search of the snitch. It didn't seem to be anywhere. Fortunately, the seeker on the hufflepuff team seemed to be having the same problem, so for now, they were about tied.

Ten minutes later (yes, he was avidly looking, it's just that the little golden ball smaller than a lightbulb that was speeding faster than a jet and had the whole field to roam was kind-of hard to spot) he finally caught a glimpse of bright metal flashing towards the hufflepuff goalposts. After several dives that nearly made him lose his lunch, a loop that he never should have even dreamed of attempting, and an incredibly risky move that included letting go of the broom with both hands and swinging a foot loose, he caught it, thankfully before the hufflepuff seeker.

Scorpius couldn't tell you anything about the match other than seeing his friends and the chase in which he caught the snitch, because everything else just sorta blurred together (later he was informed that the game had taken half an hour, which was still short, but he could have sworn up and down that it had only been that initial 10 minutes). Al clapped him on the back, Claire commended him on his endeavor (which was a huge compliment from her, as she lived and breathed the game), and Hugo joked that he 'wasn't that bad'. Lastly, Rose emerged, ruffled his hair, and told him that she was proud. Then she demanded a ride back to the dining hall so they could all go have a victory dinner, and although Lily continued to smile at them the whole way in (it was starting to become her roll in the group, actually - it made him wonder what exactly she was thinking about), they cheerfully pretended it wasn't unsettling to have her watch them.

Even though they got weird stares at dinner when everyone sat at the gryffindor table, nobody said anything, so the resident gryffindors - James, Lily, Hugo, and Rose - ignored the puzzled strangers easily. Miranda and Claire, the ravenclaw girls, teased Hugo, because halfway through eating his friend Faye came in from study hall and sat next to him. This caused the boy to blush, causing Lily and Faye herself to coo over him. He swatted them away and became more red as a result. Penny was simply glad that Faye had came, as the only hufflepuff at the table before the younger girl sat there, so now she wasn't alone. How anybody could feel alone when Albus was constantly watching them was beyond Scorpius, but everything just seemed to feel natural, despite the chaos. It felt like home.

It felt like Scorpius had just blinked and all of fifth year had gone by, because here he was, only a month before the end of school, and he honestly couldn't recount much of anything that happened past the first four months in. It was all just a blur of quidditch games (which he began to grudgingly enjoy, to Rose's endless amusement), exams, and great memories in which they all acted utterly ridiculous.

Now marked the end of an era.

"Geez, mate, it's only the last bit of fifth year," Albus told him exasperatedly at the slytherin table, brandishing his bagel while he talked. "You act like your favorite pet is dying. We still have two more years left of school left to live out." Scorpius still flopped onto the wooden surface dramatically.

"It just won't be the same. In two years, we'll all be gone for good, alone in the real world, stranded amongst the ways of adulthood." The bespeckled boy simply blinked.

"That's exactly what I said. We have two years."

"I know. Isn't that depressing?"

" . . . Are you going to be okay? I think you may have hit your head," noted a concerned Albus, mentally checking Scorpius up and down for signs of injury. "Rose, does he look hurt to you?" Rose, who had somehow become accustomed to sitting at their table next to Albus (and sometimes me, Scorpius couldn't help but take pleasure in thinking), considered this for a moment.

"He looks alright, I guess. No need to drag him to the medic's wing just yet," she eventually commented. she reached across the table and began playing with his hair while he continued closing his eyes. It felt . . . nice, actually. "He'll probably be fine." Albus rolled his eyes.

"You're the boss, Rosie, but if he goes crazy on us . . . "

"I know, I know, and I'm sure your future girlfriend is more than willing to protect you in the event that Scorp goes insane and attacks you. She's quite fond of you, too, I think," Rose replied calmly, sipping from a goblet of chocolate milk casually. Albus sputtered before turning an accusing finger towards his best friend.

"You! You told her, didn't you?" he cried, flying into an existential crisis. "Bloody hell, Scorpius! Why?!" Scorpius lazily opened a single eye, tried not to grin, and shrugged.

"Oh, he hardly needed to tell me, Al," Rose said, and she didn't even attempt to mask her smirk. "It's written all over your face and everybody knows it."

"Still, I trusted him," Albus protested, "And he betrayed me. You can't spill your best friend's secrets!"

"For Rose I can," Scorpius answered, eyes shut firmly once again. Through her loosely suppressed giggles, Rose continued messing with his pale hair. "As long as she doesn't spill. She's also my best friend, you know."

"Yup," the redhead added cheerfully. "And now I am going to steal your cinnamon toast, if you don't mind." Her cousin continued to sit in silence, dumbfounded, so the gryffindor took this as approval and snatched the bread off his plate.

"I never should have introduced you two," Albus finally said after what felt like an eternity, glaring at both teens. Scorpius lifted his head to look at Rose and they both shrugged together.

"Actually, I'm very glad you did," Rose affirmed, finishing off his toast with satisfaction. She even took it an extra step by making a show of licking the tips of her fingers.

"Quite." He grinned, giving up on concealing the smile. Al would get over it. "Ready to go, Rosie dearest?"

"Of course, Scorpsie," she responded, batting her eyelashes and flashing her most devious look at her cousin. "We have classes, after all." With that, he proceeded to walk around the table and offer his arm to her. She took it and linked her own arm through, and they left the dining hall side by side.

Albus didn't leave for another 10 minutes. He needed time to process all that his horrible friends had put him through.

Finals are done, results are posted, and Scorpius Malfoy and the rest of the fifth years were done with Hogwarts for the season. They all boarded the train and stole the large compartment again, Rose making sure to come extra early so Scorpius wouldn't have to this time. After insisting he couldn't possibly make her wait alone, however, because she would surely die of boredom and he quite prefers his friend alive, thank you very much, he ended up waited with her. Hugo, with much exasperation, said that somebody needs to supervise them - Scorpius didn't blush, his face was just somehow malfunctioning (ha, malfunctioning, Malfoy, I'm clearly a comedic genius) - and decided to bring along 'just a friend, guys, we have the room and they're pretty cool', which happened to be Faye once again.

When he learned who it was, Scorpius wasn't surprised that the hufflepuff girl he barely talked to had been looped into this, and he understood why Hugo might want to keep things under wraps. With the way Lily had been starring at Rose's little brother and his best friend (and let's be honest, the girl was probably Hugo's best friend, since the slytherin often saw them hanging out), Scorpius would want to hide away in a cupboard forever as well (not that he already doesn't want to whenever Lily grins deviously at him and Rose, but still).

Rose wasn't surprised either, but that didn't stop her from saying things like, "Oh, I didn't know you were bringing your girlfriend," and "Hey, where's Faye? You're practically attached at the hip," or even, "I call being best woman at your wedding," whenever the hufflepuff wasn't paying attention.

It was times like these that Scorpius thanked the heavens above that he wasn't dating anyone. Rose would tease him relentlessly about the poor girl if he was.

Eventually, Miranda and her cousin made their way to the car, beaming brightly, and soon after came James and Claire, arguing avidly, though she seemed flushed and he was clearly holding one of her smaller bags. Lastly came Albus and Penny, the former of which was listening to Penny drone on about the mediocrity of the payment scale on which quidditch players are approved.

The next several hours contained, quite possibly, the best memories he'd made all year. Albus tripped over his own luggage, but then Penny helped him up, so the boy really couldn't find grounds on which to complain. Claire miraculously ended up in James' lap as they went over a bump, but somehow neither of them noticed until Miranda pointed it out minutes later. They collectively blushed and separated, remaining the quietest they had ever been since meeting two semesters ago. Tammy used a spell to make snow appear inside the compartment, and since no patrolling teachers or trolley cart owners attempted to stop them, they built a snowman right in the middle of the train car. Rose even sacrificed her cloak for the sake of snowpeople fashion, so in the end, they were left with a dripping black mass, a wet floor, and numb hands, but it was worth it, especially when Rose proceeded to steal his jumper to fight the chill.

As he hopped off the platform and waved goodbye to his companions, he couldn't help but think about what a great year it had been, even though it ended all too quickly. His mother, after most of the parents had left, arrived and hugged him almost to the point of strangulation, claiming she had missed him too much. His father clamped him on the back and ruffled his hair, smiling in silence. In that moment, the Malfoys were normal, just like any other wizarding family collecting their child.

"I thought you liked summer," Rose reminded him, shoving the Malfoy boy. This was one of the few times, midway through break, that the Malfoy manor had been opened up to outsiders. Said outsider was Rose Weasley, whose father not only cross-examined Scorpius before agreeing to let her stay for the day but also inspected the entrance for any evidence of suspicious activity and made a five mile long list of safety measures Astoria should take in the event Rose got into an accident.

The redhead was incredibly embarrassed by that, but luckily Astoria took it in stride and tried not to smile as she listened. Finally, after remaining in the doorway for nearly half an hour, Rose came in. What was meant to be a day spent quietly catching up, maybe playing some games or watching movies on a muggle DVD player, became an afternoon dedicated to exploring the enormous mansion. Even Scorpius wasn't sure he had been in all the rooms, and he lived there since birth.

Now, they were sitting in the house's pavilion, because yes, a random set of doors in the middle of their manor opened up to a swimming pool that was practically a pond, complete with an assortment of beautiful exotic plants and a huge grassy area in which they could lounge on the grass in the shade of a tree. The room was open air, meaning it had no roof, but it was charmed to never let outside weather effect it. Thus bugs, snow, hail, and anything else couldn't pierce the space, though it did rain periodically whenever the plants needed water.

Currently, Rose was next to said tree, laying stomach down on the grass, Scorpius at her side.

"I do like summer," he protested, sitting up and gesturing at the space. "Especially when I can come and relax in this place whenever I want."

"But . . . " she pressed, starting to smile.

"But I can't see all of you during the summer. I can hang out with a few of you at a time - "

"Your favorite few, right? Because otherwise I take offense."

" - but not the whole group. Dad would have a heart attack if I invited all of you over. We're not used to having so many visitors." He laid down on the ground. "I'm glad you came, Rosie."

"I'm glad I did, too. Especially since you haven't ever watched a movie before." She brandished a copy of superhero movies in front of him and finally pulled the player out of her bag. It was as if she had been waiting to whip it out. "I thought we could start with these. They're pretty cool, for muggle films, and my dad really likes them." He gazed at the covers with interest.

"Who's Iron Man? There's a guy walking around who's made of iron?" he questioned. "Isn't that impossible?"

"Who is Iron Man?" she gasped, almost looking hurt. With a sad shake of her head, she popped it into the player first. "We're going to fix that, Scorpius. I can't believe you don't even know who my favorite Avenger is." Thus he was introduced to the world of Marvel and DC for no apparent reason. After 8 hours and 5 films, he was caught between liking the first superman movie and Iron Man best, and Rose approved of his conundrum.

It was incredibly stupid and meaningless, but Scorpius considered it time well spent.

Sixth year marked a fire started by one of the students on the Hogwarts Express, so about halfway to the school everybody was loaded out of the train onto this random field. Smoke trailed out of the windows with an almost lazy quality, fogging up the glass with grey. Hugo insisted on bringing his trunk out, complaining that his stuff would smell like ash for the next week if it remained inside, so the Weasley boy had propped it up in the middle of the grass like a table.

Actually, a table was exactly what they had used it as. Everyone crowded around the case in a circle, sitting on the dry ground and waiting more-or-less patiently for the magical repairs to be completed. Albus had halfheartedly laid out his snacks from the trolley onto the makeshift table, and Lily (kind, thoughtful, giving Lily) had decided to follow his suit and put her entire bag of Bertie Bott's beans out for grabs. Miranda offered up some muggle gum, being as she came from a wizard father and a normal mother and had been given a pack by her muggle cousins.

Nobody else had anything worth contributing, but all of them shared in the spoils nonetheless. Of course, that did nothing to distill the boredom, but that's what friends were for.

"Two truths and a lie, right?" Scorpius clarified. The rest of the group nodded in agreement. "I thought so. Sorry, I've just . . . I've never played this before. Or anything like it, really."

"It's fine. None of us are going to judge you or something, so just make something up now," Claire told him.

"I mean, as long as you know what to do, it's pretty simple," Tammy added. Scorpius was silent for a minute, but he spoke soon after.

"Okay, so I got a grandfather named Lucius, my best friend Albus is attractive, and 95 is my score on the OWLs," the slytherin said. Everyone groaned save for Penny, Rose, Lily, and Albus. The three girls took this moment to laugh at Albus, who was scowling fiercely.

"Ouch, mate," the Potter seethed, crossing his arms. "And yet I call you my best friend."

"You've got to make it harder to figure out the lie than that, Scorpius," Rose wheezed through the laughter. "I think you need to go again."

"Yeah, you can't say three truths," Penny tacked quietly onto the end of that statement, smirking slightly. Albus blinked and his frown melted into a happy sort of shock.

"Wait," the dark haired slytherin started, "did you just say that - "

"Alright . . . I've seen a dragon in real life, my middle name is Hyperion, and my birthday is in March." All of them appeared dumbfounded.

"Well, Albus, I'm fairly sure his middle name is Hyperion, but what month is his birthday in again?" Rose asked, then winced. "Wait, we never celebrated your birthday? After knowing you for two years?" Scorpius shook his head, somewhat amused.

"Nope."

"Wow. I'm really sorry, Scorp. Granted, we never really celebrated other birthdays either, but at least we acknowledged them," the redhead continued.

"Yes, well, we're not usually in school when my birthday comes around, so there's no need for a fanfare," he replied. Rose smiled widely.

"I know the lie," she said triumphantly. "But I'm not going to tell you. You have to figure it out by yourselves."

"I throw the game, then," James declared. "I pick the dragon thing."

"Same," Miranda agreed. "I'm not saying its not possible, but it's a little out there."

"Well, Uncle Charlie raises dragons, and I've seen one because of him, so I'm going with the middle name. Who names their child Hyperion?" Lily stated, frowning slightly. "It doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, does it?"

"The birthday thing?" Tammy guessed weakly, and Penny nodded.

"I thought it was Hyperion, but now I'm second guessing myself. Choice two." Albus scratched the back of his head. "I hope that doesn't come back to bite me."

"Dragons," Claire blurted out, and then figured that her obligation to the game was done, because she proceeded to rip up the grass and eat candy. Nobody stopped her. Hugo and Faye shrugged as a sign of giving up.

Finally, last but not least, Rose mustered the grin of somebody who knew they would win. If only she was more like this during the exams, he thought silently. "It's choice number three, the one about your birthday," she said with confidence. "You said we typically weren't in school during this time, but we stay at Hogwarts all throughout March. It probably takes place during summer break, right?"

"Yup, Rosie. You got me." The words came out fonder than he expected them to, and when she beamed, he found himself warmed down to the tips of his shoes. Odd. "Oh, yeah, and Tammy and Penny. But they just guessed."

"Yeah, but it worked, didn't it?" Penny reminded him. "I'm saying that the winner should go next, so I nominate Tammy." The cocoa skinned girl smiled and nodded.

"Okay, I have an uncle named Priam, my favorite color is turquoise, and I have five pairs of pants in my trunk on the train," she said after a split second.

" . . . number three," Lily hesitantly answered. "It's far too long and specific."

"Three."

"Three, duh."

"It's going to be something stupid, like six, so I say three."

"The pants thing."

"Third one." On and on this went, and soon only Albus, Miranda, and Rose remained.

"One for variety," the slytherin responded. "Everyone said three, so I'm going to be original."

"Two, because nobody picked it yet," Rose deduced.

"I think it's two," Miranda answered calmly, and everybody else save Rose sighed, because after all, Miranda would know best. Being cousins had its perks.

"Yeah, it was two," Tammy admitted, and James crossed his arms. Claire told him he was being childish, so he uncrossed them and opted for frowning. She flicked his nose, efficiently distracting him, and in retaliation he got up and began chasing her around the lawn. They're going to be a thing before the end of the year. "I like pure blue, not turquoise. I'm a purist."

"I think Rose should go now," Miranda affirmed, sneaking a brief look in Scorpius' direction. The ravenclaw was seriously shaping up to be just as bad as Lily.

"Really? Why can't you go?" the Weasley prodded. "I don't know what to say, An."

"I can't think of anything that Tam won't automatically know," she replied simply, waving her hand as if dismissing the possibility. "So therefore, playing by winners pick rules, you should choose next."

"You realize I am related to most of the players in this game, right?"

"Yup, but they don't know everything about your home life. Hugo isn't playing, and that eliminates most of the competition."

"As an only child, An, that argument could also apply to you," Rose reasoned.

"Just go, Rosie," she sighed with exasperation. Rose maturely stuck out her tongue at her beautiful companion and took in a deep breath.

"So, I've wrestled a hypogriff, somebody forced me into a chair and stole my teeth once, and I've traveled alongside a group of demigods for a day to recover a stolen lightning bolt."

"What?" Scorpius uttered. He had really thought that he had this in the bag. The others seemed to share in his confusion. "I think I may have missed a step."

"I don't think you did all those things, dear cousin," a concerned Albus commented. "Are you feeling all right?"

"You haven't become loony, have you?" James questioned in a suspicious voice. Apparently he had caught Claire and had sat back down, still holding an arm firmly around her waist. In case she tries to mount a daring escape, I presume, the Malfoy teen couldn't help but think in his most sarcastic internal voice.

"I haven't done all of those things and I'm not crazy, everyone. I only did two of them, actually. Now guess," she dictated, and so they did.

"The third one," Miranda said, being the first to attempt. "I've got no idea what a demigod is. Is that another word for half-blood?" Rose smirked mischievously.

"Technically, yes. Just not in the way you're thinking." An scrunched up her nose but said nothing.

"I'm with my cousin. Three," Tammy answered.

"I'm guessing two," Albus replied.

"Two." Penny yawned a little after her statement. "When do you think the train will be fixed already? I just want to get there at this point."

"I dunno, Pen," Lily responded. "It's been a while. You'd think that with magic, we'd be on our way by now." Turning back to Rose, she said, "Oh, I'm just going to guess choice one. I've never seen a hypogriff up close and I doubt that you have either."

"I'm also saying one," Scorpius added.

"Three," Claire remarked. "It makes no sense."

"If everybody's done, then, the answer is the first one. I've never wrestled a hypogriff; I've wrestled a griffin." Rose took a moment to smile at Scorpius. "And, as you asked me to point out in the library last year, their origins are slightly varied. There's a difference."

"Okay, I'm sorry, Rose, but you're delusional. That stuff didn't happen," the bespeckled boy proclaimed. "I have never seen you wrestle a griffin in real life."

"I didn't. It was virtual," she explained. When all of the group still looked confused, she began to elaborate. "See, Mum wasn't much of a gamer, but her father had a few games, and she gave Hugo and I his old set. There was this simulation on one of them in which you have to fight a griffin to pass on to the next level. Thus I have fought a griffin."

"And the teeth thing?" Claire asked.

"Oh, that's because my grandparents are also dentists. I needed them to pull one of my baby teeth because it was obstructing a new one that was growing in. However, I was about six and I was pretty fussy about it, so dad had to pretty much hold me down and sedate me. It wasn't exactly my day." She paused for a moment, but when Lily opened her mouth, she continued. "Before you can ask, my mom took me to a muggle bookstore several years ago. She got me a book about and the adventure of a boy named Percy Jackson. The novel integrated greek myth with modern human society, and the term demigod, or half-blood, refers to a child like Percy; someone who has a mortal parent and a greek god as a parent. Percy ends up trying to prove his innocence by finding a lightning bolt he believes was stolen by his uncle, one of the gods. I read the book in a day, and thus the third statement was true."

"So, I guess Lily has to go now," Scorpius commented, now significantly less befuddled.

"I don't really think I'm ready, but here goes," the Potter girl started. "I've - "

"ALL ABOARD, STUDENTS!" called out one of the women from the trolley carts. Everyone began running back to the doors of the cars, fighting to get in first. Clearing off the makeshift table, the group wordlessly got up, brushing elbows and stealing candy, but nobody minded.

In truth, despite the inconvenience the fire posed, it had been fun.

The dining hall was a flurry of excitement, cheerful voices illuminating the halls, ghosts chattering joyfully, the candles above burning brightly. It shouldn't be this happy for the second week of school, but there they were, all the students of Hogwarts, buzzing about like they had all won the lottery.

The reason was the Triwizard Tournament.

Cue squealing.

Frankly, Scorpius, along with the rest of the population, could honestly care less about the tournament. That in and of itself, while it was bounds more interesting than quidditch, wasn't worth the fuss; win or lose, it was all just about fun and friendly competition, and it was only a major source of worry for the three students chosen, so freaking out about it made no sense. It wasn't like he would be doing it or anything; he would much rather just sit in the bleachers and watch another Hogwarts teenager duel against a variety of horrifying creatures, thank you very much. Again, the Triwizard tournament was cool enough to watch, occasionally worth getting into for those not directly involved, but it was not worth all the attention that made it into such a social outlet.

No, the thing that everybody was up in arms about was the thing that happened due to the Triwizard Tournament. The Yule Ball.

Cue louder squealing.

Every single student was going absolutely insane over who they would ask, if they would get asked, how to ask someone, when to ask someone, what they would do if they couldn't ask someone, who they would kill if they tried to ask someone else, what they should wear after they succeeded with asking someone . . . it was incredibly exhausting just to imagine it.

Sure, Scorpius had endured this once as a second year. He had seen the mass excitement and panic all before. But you see, people don't care in second year because anyone lower than a fourth year doesn't really go. They just unilaterally decide that it isn't worth worrying over because they aren't going with the older years. But once you hit fourth year and above, you are pretty much contractually obligated to attend the party. It's almost a rite of passage, at that point, and every student has to go or else.

Basically, though he had thankfully avoided the storm four years ago, Scorpius was being forced to experience the massive Yule Ball. The biggest party of his Hogwarts career.

Had Scorpius mentioned before how much he absolutely hated parties?

This now lead him to his current problem; who he was going to go with.

Honestly, Scorpius hadn't planned on going with anybody; he had figured that his friends would just tag along and they would all attend the Yule Ball as a group. He really hadn't planned on Lily getting asked, and then Miranda, and then Tammy (but he probably should have, because even though he didn't think of them in that way, he knew that they were all insanely pretty). Thus the catalyst had happened and everyone was frantic to find a date.

"I really want to ask Penny," Albus stated during lunch. "I mean, I know she's out of my league, but I've known her for a while and I think I might have a chance." The Malfoy rolled his eyes.

"That's an understatement. If she says no, I'll give you 50 gold pieces," he responded in a monotone voice. "That should be enough with which to bribe another girl last minute, right?"

"Oh, sod off. At least I've got the courage to ask out the girl I like. When are you going to get your act together with Rose?" the Potter grumbled. Scorpius whipped around his head in surprise.

"Rose? You mean Rose Weasley, your cousin?" he stated slowly.

"Yeah, she's the only one we know. I thought you had a crush on her in first year," Albus commented, taking a bite of his sandwich. "Awnd I see yo with wer. Wat's wolding yo wack?"

"Chew before you attempt to speak, Al," the slytherin responded dryly. "And that's different. Yeah, I had a huge crush on your cousin, but that was a while ago. It's different now - we're friends. She's one of my best friends. I don't want to mess that up. Asking her out will make things weird." Albus looked at him in disbelief.

"But some small, suppressed part of you still likes her, right?"

" . . . maybe." And there was no way Scorpius Malfoy was blushing. That's crazy.

"You two are the most ridiculous people I have ever met," Albus groaned, wagging his sandwich in his friend's face. "Fine, you and Rose can remain in denial. Who else would you ask, then?"

"Nobody," he answered honestly. "I thought I could just go alone." Al froze. Then he broke out laughing.

"I'm sorry, but you can't go alone to the most important social event in your entire student years!" he cackled. "EVERYONE is going. You, Rosie, Penny, and I are literally the last ones to get asked or to ask someone. I'd assumed you'd have a plan, mate."

"Even Claire? Headstrong, stubborn, pretends to hate James' guts Claire?"

"Didn't you hear? James went up to her yesterday after dinner and said that he'd be bored, so the least he could do was ask her to go with him so he'd have someone to argue with."

"And that worked?" he questioned incredulously.

"Apparently, because she said yes and James has been smiling all morning." Scorpius' companion ate another piece of the sandwich, but this time he made sure to swallow before talking. "Anyways, if I want to catch Penny before her defense against the dark arts course, I better run. Tell me how it goes with Rose, alright?"

"Huh? I already told you, I can't ask Ro - "

"Bye, Scorp!" Al yelled, already halfway to the door.

Typical.

And now Scorpius had to find someone to go with. Perfect.

"SHE SAID YES!" Albus screamed out to the world, practically skipping down the hallway before tackling Scorpius. "SHE SAID SHE'D GO!" Scorpius, well aware of the strangers staring at them, attempted to pry the dark-haired slytherin student off of him. It didn't work. He was trapped in said hug/restraint.

"I'm happy for you, mate. But you're kinda restricting my breathing, so . . . "

"THIS IS AMAZING!"

"Right." So, now he, and everyone else within a five mile radius of the castle, knew that Albus had a date. If only Scorpius could do the same.

It's fine. He's fine being a bouncer. It's just the stupid Yule Ball, so he'll probably be fine. Even if he ends up going alone.

When they were a week until the event, his resolve cracked.

"So, Rosie," Scorpius started. He almost couldn't bring himself to finish. The redhead looked up from her book, and mentally Scorpius congratulated himself on being an idiot. He had hoped that by getting her while she was distracted, he might get a yes purely from confusion. However, he had neglected to take into account that bothering Rosie while she read a novel was like trying to poke a bear while it ate. Right.

Too late to turn back now.

"Would you . . . maybe . . . if nobody has asked you . . . " Why the heck is this so hard? It's only Rose! You've been one of her closest friends for years!

WHY AM I SO NERVOUS?!

No, the mental meltdown wasn't good. This wasn't good in the slightest.

"Would I maybe if nobody what?" she fired back, closing the cover with a sigh. Well, maybe he wouldn't die today after all.

"GowithmetotheYuleBall?" The words came out in a hurried rush, as if by getting them out quicker he might avoid the pain of dragging it out. Like ripping off a band aid.

" . . . did you say 'Yule Ball', or was that just me?" the gryffindor girl asked hesitantly, pulling her book to her chest. She appeared a little frazzled, just a smidgen confused. He couldn't blame her.

"Erm, yeah," he clarified, cringing all the while. "Albus is going with Penny, James is going with Claire, and I really wanted to go with my best friend." Great job, Malfoy. Clearly you have a way with words.

"Alright then, I guess," she told him hesitantly. "I mean, I haven't been asked yet, and I had assumed we were just going to go as a group, so I was fine going alone, actually."

"That's what I said, but Albus insisted that it would be stupid if I went as a bouncer to the party and he put me through another week of hell. I was a nervous, anxious wreck for days."

Regaining back her usual wit and sarcasm, she flicked his nose. "Based on that proposal, I'd say you still are. I've never seen a human being speak that fast."

"Oh come on, it was terrible, but I wasn't as bad as Al, I'm sure."

"Probably worse, I'd say. There wasn't even a grand romantic gesture thrown in there. I almost feel miffed," she grinned.

"I'd probably mess it up."

"Naturally."

"At least I'll get it right when I propose for real, Rosie." She gasped and batted her eyelashes, and Scorpius was yet again reminded of why they were best friends. She was the only one who he could be like this around who wouldn't hold stuff over his head for the rest of his life.

"Marriage? Why, isn't that a little premature, darling?"

"Only for you, dearest," he smirked, sealing their banter with a wink. She shoved him and laughed. "Okay, this was way less stressful than I thought it would be."

"Of course, Scorp. Seriously, I'm your best friend - there was no way I would've rejected you," she told him firmly. Then, changing the subject, she continued, "But as your future date, I say that you have to help me carry my stuff for the next week. I've got a lot of projects to hand in and - "

"Okay, Rose." Yeah, they would be fine. There was no reason to worry after all.

It was official. The Yule Ball sucked.

No part could be worth the events of the last several hours. Albus, James, and a begrudging Hugo had dragged him all over creation (aka took him down to Hogsmead, the nearest decent sized town) in order to find dress robes the day before the dance and not only wasted an hour arguing over which way the tailor's shop was before finally finding it (he was convinced Albus had gotten momentarily possessed by Claire), they took another three hours to decide the fine details, materials, style, and fit of their robes. By the time they were complete, Scorpius realized that dressing for important events was all a sham. All of their dress robes looked exactly the same to him, though James and Al insisted that there were subtle differences. That's just what the tailors want you to think, I'm sure.

When they finally got back to the castle, Scorpius realized that there was a package on his bed from home. A package containing fresh dress robes that appeared nearly identical to the ones he wasted several hours acquiring. And they had just been sitting there, waiting to be discovered. Scorpius hated life and all of its cruel ironies.

After that, he found out at dinner that the girls had gone on a spa day that followed a brief dress run.

At first he thought he had misheard them. They did not spend only two hours between all six of them (the six of them including party-avoiding Rose, girly-girl Lily, stubborn Claire, indecisive Tam, that's-probably-too-expensive Miranda, and sporty, never-worn-a-dress-since-age-seven Penny) on dress shopping. There was no way that they all found exactly what they needed that quickly. And there was definitely no way that, after only two hours of shopping, they had the time to take a break and have a relaxing spa day while he had waited and waited for multiple eternities inside another store.

But they did. Because the universe was unfair.

Next time, he vowed to go looking for formal ware with the female half of the group. They seemed a lot more efficient.

It all lead up to this moment, the moment that would supposedly make it all worth it. It was a bit of a tall order, but this precious moment, the one in which he picks up his date and has one of the best nights of his Hogwarts life, was supposed to make him forget all of the awful and overwhelming build up behind this.

It still felt a little underwhelming and nerve-wracking, though, waiting with Al in the gryffindor common room. Why was he sweating, exactly? He was literally just coming by to get Rose and maybe say hi to the others.

At least in that regard, he wasn't alone. Albus was tugging at his collar, looking immensely uncomfortable despite his excitement over taking out Pen.

"Hey, guys," a voice called from behind him, and although he was on pins and needles, he felt a little better. Lily had that calming sort of affect on people. "Rose and Pen will be out shortly. Miranda is forcing them to put makeup on and it's not going well. Rose nearly took off An's arm when she plucked an eyelash due to reflexes, and Penny keeps wiggling, which is making it rather hard to apply the mascara. Claire was already picked up by James, though." The Potter girl stepped in front of them and did a little twirl. "Be honest, how do I look?"

Lily was dressed rather simply for her usual cutesy tastes, wearing only a patterned blue dress that extended just past her knees, silver bracelets and earrings, and a pair of slightly elevated silver sandals. Her hair was straightened and she clearly had some basic cosmetics on her face, but other than that Lily appeared completely normal. Scorpius was surprised; he had expected the gryffindor to be decked out in a full-scale princess dress, complete with a tiara and nine inch heels. Huh.

"You look fine," Albus blurted out, and then Scorpius elbowed him in retaliation. "I mean, you look really good, sis. Really nice."

"Yeah, you look great," the pale-haired slytherin tried, and Lily smiled in relief.

"Thanks, you two. I was worried that it was a little too simple, but I plan on doing a lot of dancing, and I wanted to be comfortable," she explained. "But if you two think it's alright I doubt anyone else will care."

"Oh, of course nobody is going to care, Lily," came the voice of another girl. Said girl was Miranda, who was accompanied silently by Tammy. "You're practically a model. You could literally wear a dress made of mud and still be prettier than half the female population at the school."

"You act like you're not gorgeous either, An," Tammy snorted, rolling her eyes. "Out of all of us, I didn't think you would be the one to wear the runway gown."

"It's not technically a runway gown, Tam," Miranda rebutted. Everyone internally agreed not to point out the fact that the ravenclaw was blushing self consciously. "I just never get a reason to try on clothes like this. Now I have an excuse." Miranda was indeed wearing the equivalent of a ballgown, though; she had on a navy blue dress that slipped down to her heels. The white bodice was broken into triangle-like segments, each one containing either gold spots or navy lace over the basic material, and each part was trimmed in gold. Speaking of gold, gold flecks dotted the navy skirt on the way down, gold heels adorned her feet, a gold and blue necklace and bracelet set was worn, and gold earrings pierced her ears. Only a thin set of navy straps held the extravagant contraption up, and Scorpius was almost afraid to call it overkill. He had the sneaking suspicion that if he did, An would have no problems taking off one of her shoes and attacking him with it.

Luckily, with Tammy there was a lot less to take in. She wore a red dress that ended at her knees and was styled to look like roses were stuck to the fabric. From there, the only things he could distinguish was two silver bracelets, silver heels, and red earrings. He opted for looking at Tammy rather than Miranda. His eyes could physically process her.

"So, if you're out here," Scorpius began to reason, "then that means that the girls inside must be - "

"I'm here!" Penny called, practically falling out of the room with a huff. "I couldn't find my necklace and I started to panic. I was running around in circles everywhere." Scorpius, though Pen was certainly an interesting new addition to the commons, couldn't help but gaze back at Albus. His expression was far too entertaining to let pass.

"You're pretty good," the dark haired boy muttered, eyes blown wide. Part of that was due to the fact that she was actually wearing something other than her school uniform, cloak, or regular t shirts and jeans. "I mean, you look really pretty. Really good," he attempted to amend.

"He means to say that he thinks you look beautiful," Scorpius interjected. His best friend coughed a little.

"Yeah, what he said," he finally murmured in defeat. Luckily for him, Penny didn't seem to mind, and she giggled slightly at his struggles instead. Scorpius still had no idea what she saw in Al, but he was happy for the Potter teen that she did see it. Heaven knew that Al needed all the good influences and support he could get.

Though he wasn't lying when he said that Penny was beautiful - the strawberry blonde was in fact amazing, especially with makeup. In a pink dress (an honest to god pink dress on the quidditch-obsessed girl who hadn't even owned a dress in years) with gold detailing, rose gold jewelry, and winged heels, she had clearly made an effort for this. An effort for Al.

The boy really didn't see that she liked him too, did he?

Of course, this only left Rose, and the thought of her in evening ware was terrifying. She could be borderline intimidating in an old jumper and sweatpants, let alone a gown and heels. Honestly, he didn't know if he wanted to imagine her in heels. The thought of Rose in anything but tennis shoes or worn-out flats seemed wrong somehow.

" - I got it!" Rose cried victoriously from behind the door, and Scorpius began to steel his nerves from imminent shock. His best friend was about to come out in a dress. This was a day for the history books. "It took me a while, but I got the stupid buckle to go through the hole!"

Then out she came.

. . . he was sorely unprepared.

Rose Weasley was in a full-scale evening gown, one that trialing down to the ground and freaking sparkled. It didn't exactly blend in color-wise either; the thing was bright turquoise (a little like her eyes, actually) and actually was charmed to turn colors under the light, so the back folds began evaporating into shades of warm purple, red, yellow, and gold. It had only one thick shoulder strap and a thin belt, coupled with an owl necklace and an assortment of silver jewelry. Lastly, she wasn't wearing tennis shoes like he had often seen; she had on silver studded sandals, brand new ones, without any scuffs or dirt.

This certainly wasn't Rose. Rose didn't put on clothes fit for a premiere. She didn't curl her hair and let Miranda tediously apply makeup. She certainly didn't get to look like this and make him feel like his stomach aspired to be a gymnast. This had to be an impostor.

"I know what you're thinking: it's way too much, right?" impostor-Rose said, tugging at her skirt with a reluctant acceptance. "I had no idea what to get, because I never go to these sorts of things, but then Lily found this and forced me into it. It was the first and only thing I tried on, but she bought it immediately and then shoved her shoes at me, so I'm trapped." She made a face. "Is there a way that we can kill our well-meaning friends and hide their bodies? Or that we could possibly skip the Yule Ball and go for a food run instead?" Okay. So maybe this was the real Rose.

It was at this moment that he realized he had been staring at her like an idiot in the plain view of everybody. An was trying not to smile and Lily was giggling rather mysteriously in the background. Right.

"Unfortunately, no. This is supposed to be a right of passage or something else," he responded after a minute, because that's what he was supposed to do. That's what they did do. They engaged in banter, they mocked eachother, they suffered through boring events together, and this was just who they were. They were best friends, and this was normal.

Despite the formality not being normal.

"A right of passage? Into what, the start of sixth year?"

"Exactly. A life-changing event, I'm sure." He extended an arm, and far-too-fancy-to-be-Rose-but-I-guess-she-kinda-is-her Rose took it. Nobody else moved. "Well, we're all going, aren't we?"

"Actually, An, Tam, and I are all waiting for our dates. You guys go ahead, though. We'll meet you there," Lily smiled. She waved, and that was essentially their cue to leave.

"Right, see you!" he called back, but it was no use. The girls had already sunken back into their own little worlds.

Ah, onto the Yule Ball. Wonderful.

As soon as they got to the event, as predicted, Al asked Penny if she wanted to dance and drug her away, stranding Rose and Scorpius by the entrance. It felt vaguely familiar to fourth year. They wound up camping out at the refreshment table, making up conversations for the people across the room that they couldn't hear and eating tons of cake and (thankfully not spiked) punch. At some point, they had even seen Hugo and Faye. She was wearing a dark cream dress with a white lace top, a butterfly necklace around her neck and her black hair falling over her shoulders. On her left wrist was a muggle watch, and when Rose noticed it, she squealed and whispered something about it being a birthday gift from Hugo, who had been smiling the whole time without fail. He had to lean down in order for her to whisper something into ear, even though she was already wearing heeled lace boots, but they appeared to be having fun despite the difficulties the height problems must have caused. They looked happy.

It wasn't as if they were completely isolated and abandoned, though. During their wait, he saw James snogging Claire in a closet when some unsuspecting fourth year flung open the door. Claire's black and gold dress had ridden up, her hair was a bit of a mess, and her turquoise jewelry had fallen onto the floor at some point. James paid no head to the startled (and probably traumatized) student, though. He continued kissing her and fumbled around with one hand to find the knob and close the door. Clearly, they still hated eachother.

This also didn't account for the rest of the friend group. Lily, Tam, Miranda, and their dates (Tammy's was actually Chase from the slytherin quidditch team, so it was a welcome surprise) stopped by to greet them, despite the fact that they soon moved on and began partying like normal people.

Like they should probably be doing.

Frankly, he was already having an okay time just sitting in the corner like an absolute idiot. Rose made it fun, somehow, even if he felt like she seemed way out of his league at the moment. But, you know, they clearly couldn't sit in the corner and eat snacks for the entire time. They would have to dance.

How does one go about asking Rose Weasley to dance?

"Hey, Rosie," he tried. Good. He still had control of his mouth, if not his mind. "Do you want to maybe . . . I don't know, do something?" She cocked an eyebrow.

"Do something? Something as in . . . "

"Maybe we could get up," he added lamely, quite aware of the fact that he was incapable of forming coherent thoughts around his best friend. This never happened. What was it about that silly dress that made this so difficult?

"Yes, Scorpius, and after we get up, then what?" Okay, Rose was totally messing with him now.

"Like, dance."

"Alone? That's going to be awkward." As the redhead took another sip from her glass, bracelets jangling against the cup, he could have sworn he saw her smirk.

"You know that I'm talking about together, Rose," the slytherin finally said, nose scrunched up.

"Is there an invitation in there that I sense," she teased, and yep, she was totally smirking. He knew it. "or are we still talking hypotheticals?"

"Rose Weasley, would you like to get up and actually dance at the Yule Ball with me?" That was it. That was the best he was able to do. He was done.

"Okay." To his surprise, she stood up, accomplishing the task far too elegantly, and held out a hand. "Now, was that so hard? You've been chatting with me like a normal person all evening. I was starting to think you'd been replaced with an evil twin."

"Oh, please. I'm not dressed like a goddess," he rebutted. For a split second, the slytherin thought he might have broken her, because Rose froze up with a face full of red. Then the moment passed, she breathed again, and he tried to convince himself that he had imagined it all.

"I'd certainly hope not. Turquoise isn't your color," she replied, and now that he was standing, she pulled him towards the front. Even though he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she found these social gatherings as painful as he did, the teenager had the sneaking suspicion that she had been waiting for this.

They started awkwardly swaying to the first song, mainly because they had no idea how to dance like the rest of the population and the song was slower, but after a while they concluded that nobody cared about how they looked, so it didn't matter. He was fairly certain that he stepped on her toes several times, another party-goer almost fell on both of them, and Lily still found ways to sneak intruding glances at them from across the Ball, but surprisingly he had a great time. Especially since dancing doesn't necessarily need conversation, so he didn't have to worry about being an uncharacteristically awkward socialite.

It was . . . nice. The Yule Ball was nice.

It wasn't that he saw Rose any differently as a person after seeing her in that dress. He was just suddenly hyper-aware of her presence whenever she came into the room, like that small, suppressed part of himself from first year that couldn't help liking the Weasley girl was opened up. Well, maybe not opened up, but that little suppressed part became a little less suppressed. A little more prominent.

The fact that she was at his side throughout most of every single day and he loved her company didn't exactly help.

Scorpius was afraid that Albus, even through his Penny-induced haze, was starting to notice, and if Lily and An's terrifying smiles were any indication, then they were too.

But it was fine. There was no way he could be regaining his hopeless crush on Rose that he thought he had shoved away years ago. He couldn't be, because she was his best friend, and that was all. She didn't like him like that. Nope. Not at all. Not a snowflake's chance in hell. Yup.

. . . it's probably fine.

Yes, he was still playing quidditch this year.

No, Albus didn't force him, he did it entirely by himself. He figured that, since he was a rather quick seeker, he would attempt to make the game as short as possible for all the other people like him who hated just sitting there for hours on end.

Yes, Rose came and cheered him and Al on loudly at every match.

No, he wasn't counting (but she had already come to the first 4 of the season, even though she couldn't get away for the second game until halfway through the action - not that he noticed or anything).

Yes, Penny always came as well, but it was obvious that she was only there mainly for one of the two slytherin players.

Yes, that player was Albus.

Yes, Albus was still oblivious about Pen. It wouldn't be Al if he wasn't.

Yes, the rest of the group always arrived too, but next to the two girls, they faded into the background slightly. Just a little.

Yes, this format of mental interrogation was getting a little repetitive. But Scorpius needed to keep the facts straight in his mind.

This next match was against gryffindor, and he didn't want to be confused or distracted or out of it. The seeker on that team was really good so far and he really wanted to be prepared so he could win.

He actually cared about this sport. Weird.

As he made his way onto the field and mounted his broom, however, all the strategies and yes and no certainties about the game he had been listing in his head flew out the window. James and his girlfriend (it wasn't official, but all of them, Claire included, continuously teased James about it, and he never bothered denying it) were in the very front, shouting that slytherin would win. Hugo (now with Faye in tow, as they had done essentially everything together since the Yule Ball) was wearing a green and black scarf, which was a small show of support, but one to be appreciated.

And, of course, how could he forget about the rest of them? Lily, An, Tam, and Faye, who had been miraculously roped into holding it in her lap, were all carrying parts of the sign they had so carefully constructed last year. But behind them all on the tallest stand were Rose and Penny, cheering them on despite the fact that Ro still knew next to nothing about quidditch. But she made an effort for them.

In the end, he did win. Though having them in the audience helped quit a bit.

Rose grabbed him by the hand and began to tug him away. "Scorpius, you have to run. Now. You have to hide me away somewhere, and you have to hide yourself."

"Huh?" he questioned, getting up out of his chair in confusion. Currently they were in the library, and Rose had come to meet him and help out with one of his essays. Thank merlin that she was good at these types of things; Al was a terrible study partner. His grades were passable, true, but Scorpius was nearly at the top of his class and Rose was undeniably the best out of all the girls thanks to her near-perfect memory. "But what about that transfiguration paper on the history of - "

"There's no time for that!" she hissed, clenching his shoulder now and picking up his bag. "We have to leave this place right now. I'm pretty sure he saw me go in here."

"What? Who saw you, Rosie?"

"ROSE, COME OUT ROSE!" came a rather loud and definitely female voice from the front, and her visible cringe was enough to convince him.

"Actually, I'm sure you're right. Tell me later when we get to the hufflepuff common room."

She took a brief moment to pause him and say, "Why hufflepuff?"

"Does that girl sound like the kind of person who would make hufflepuff?" Rose considered the question for a second.

"Good point." So off they went, ducking out the back entrance of the library and weaving their way through changing staircases, trying their best to avoid the source of said voice. When they ran up to the hufflepuff dorms and banged loudly, asking for Penny, the blonde let them in without protest or question. Actually, they had caught her at just the right time. She was leaving on a date with Albus.

Wow. How times had changed.

"Bloody hell, that was close," Rose breathed as she sunk into the hufflepuff chair, which was a bright canary color set next to the fireplace. Scorpius sank into it next to her, glad to finally be able to relax again.

"You said it," the slytherin sighed, looking at her sideways. "Though I still don't know who we were frantically avoiding."

"Well, I suppose I do owe you some details on the matter. This is partially about you," she began, straightening up. "Do you know the girl Juliana Vain?"

"I think I might have seen her in the stands. She's generally pretty nice, though. Smart witch. Why?" he inquired, scrunching up his nose. "You don't mean to say that . . . "

"Well, from what I gathered, some second years pranked her by slipping a love potion into her snacks, and then she became infatuated with the first person she saw, which was apparently you. I'm guessing she was at last night's quidditch game," the redhead explained. "Of course, this morning, she realized that I went to the Yule Ball with you, and now she's attempting to kill me." The clever, independent, nearly shock-resistant gryffindor girl shuddered in a borderline state of fear. "You know, she's got quite the arsenal of spells, that one. And a dastardly good aim, if you ask me."

"Wow." The words finally came out, as there wasn't much else he could say. "That's . . . something."

" . . . that's it?" she pondered out loud. "I'm surprised you're not trying to make a quip about girls chasing after you, to be honest." He shook his head and threw a lazy arm around her shoulders.

"Actually, I kind of feel bad for her. And in need of a nap. I know we only ran up a few flights of stairs, but I feel exhausted." He yawned as if to prove his point. "Let's just wait out the storm in here. I'll study later." She nodded, suddenly feeling rather tired and worn out herself. Much of the past half hour had been spent trying to avoid a charmed Juliana Vain, and that tended to take quite a bit out of a person.

"Okay, Scorp." And then she was out like a light, leaning heavily on his shoulder. Eventually he nodded off as well, and when they woke up, they finally got a chance to work on his paper. The Juliana problem and the rest of the world lurked outside the common room, but none of the hufflepuffs were bothered by the intruding teens, so they allowed them to stay well into the night before everyone left for dinner. It was calm and rather cozy.

A rare, peaceful evening, despite the death threats over Rose's head.

Oh yeah, the Triwizard Tournament was still being hosted until spring, like always. Right.

To be perfectly honest, most of the hype had worn off after the Yule Ball, for which Scorpius was grateful. He couldn't remember the names of the candidates as it was, so attempting to keep up with popular gossip over the event itself would have been murder. Of course, he still had to pay attention to some extent, and that's why he was here. Great.

So, this was the first event: trying to get past a group of enchanted warriors to reach their chest in the middle of the field. Each player had a different selection, though; every tribe of warrior was from a different background. There were terracotta soldiers, egyptian priests, and ancient necromancers from Europe, each one created with magic by the school headmasters to look and act like real magicians of old. Each set of 10 'people' took their job of protecting the golden chest from the contestants very seriously, and they were all equipped to fight with a limited arsenal of spells based on their roll.

It seemed interesting enough, of course, but if real danger ever arose, Hogwarts had become far more aware of safety regulations over the years. The games were a lot less risky than before, which took away some of the allure. Also, Scorpius had a quiz (or five) he needed to study for. Taking several hours out of his day to watch the proceedings seemed dumb.

By all means, it wasn't dull, and he did want his school to win, but some of it just seemed pointless. Cool, but pointless. And again, five tests he doesn't want to fail could have been prepared for in this time.

"And now, we begin with the drawing!" echoed a voice across the stadium. Well, he supposed it was starting. Next to him, practically having a conniption fit, was Rose. She was bursting with excitement, an excitement he didn't really think this event deserved.

"Isn't this amazing? Our first Triwizard Tournament!" the redhead squealed, and Miranda, who regularly enjoyed these kinds of events, nodded vigorously as well.

"Yeah, I know, right? This is going to be awesome!" she grinned.

"Agreed, but why exactly is it mandatory?" Albus spoke up from the other side of Scorpius. "I mean, I get that it's a big deal, but I was going to redo a test today. Now I'll have to wait until after the weekend and see if my professor will let me do it in study hall."

"I love this kind of stuff," Penny gushed, eyes lit up as she gazed at the playing field. "I'm with you, Ro; this is amazing!"

"Yup, amazing," Al echoed, looking at his girlfriend (and yeah, they were dating at this point, finally - Scorpius got confirmation).

"Aren't you excited?" Lily asked the slytherin curiously. "You haven't said a word, Scorp. Everyone else seems happy."

"I'm happy," he protested. "I just have other stuff to do is all."

"But isn't this cool?" Rose butted in, far too joyful. "I just can't believe we got such good seats! If there's ever a moment when I can't see, I'm climbing on your shoulders, okay?" He nodded with neutral resignation.

"Alright, fine. But I still say, like Albus, that it's stupid that this is mandatory."

"And now comes our first competitor, Maya Abernathy from Beauxbatons Academy!" Everyone cheered as the slim, pale girl walked up to the stand, clad in blue. She held up a piece of paper she had just drawn. "Maya shall battle the necromancers!" The stands erupted into a flurry of excitement, eager to see what the teen had in store. Maya, on the other hand, looked terrified. She clearly hadn't anticipated this.

There were three sets of doors beneath the stands, each one containing a golden chest to be carried out and the small band of soldiers. The third door opened and out marched a group of dreary men and women, all wearing the styles of 16th century England. Each one was holding a wand, and as they set the chest in the middle of the grass, it was apparent that they meant business.

"Go!" the officiator yelled, and the magician constructs began attacking. One threw a whip of flames in her direction and Maya ducked behind a rock, narrowly avoiding the fate of third degree burns. Seconds later, another came from behind and cast a traditional stupefy charm, causing the girl to fly backwards in a decidedly dramatic fashion. All in all, based on the first few seconds, Scorpius didn't have much hope for her.

However, she quickly made a recovery. Maya jumped back up and invoked a summoning spell, and within seconds a small pendant was in her hands. Rose practically leapt forwards when it happened, eyes wide.

"She's incredible!" she gasped, nearly falling over the railing. "She made one of those. She's a genius!"

"Am I missing something, or . . . Wasn't she just doing miserably a few moments ago?" Scorpius questioned. The redhead pointed at the charm.

"That's an incredibly rare piece of magic right there. She's from Beauxbatons, right? They're more gifted in defensive and theoretical magic than offensive stuff. What she has in her hands is a very powerful charm. It's meant to defend the owner against nearly any magical attacks, and it's dastardly hard to craft. Only the maker of the object can use it, and it takes years of experience to make as well as tons of magic." Rose breathed out, pure wonder in her eyes. "She must be an amazing charm maker."

"She's sure got you charmed," Scorpius commented. She whacked his arm.

"Just shush up and pay attention. Maya's smart, I can feel it."

Maya got up, brushing off her clothes. Slipping the charm around her neck, she began walking calmly up to the podium. Several more attacks were thrown at her, but the constructs soon realized that it wasn't effective. One near the chest spread their arms, and out of the earth came a thick black mist. This obscured nearly everything, but with a lumos charm, Maya was no longer blinded. However, when the mist dismissed itself, skeletons, wraiths, and dementors were crawling from the ground.

That's right. Necromancers. They had the natural ability to summon armies of the dead and creatures of darkness.

Luckily, Maya still had her wits about her, so she instantly set to casting the patronus charm. Though many dementors got close, the spell warded them off, and although the skeletons looked frightening, their joints were rather frail, so a swift kick to the knee with her thick blue boots would send them flying. Wraiths also seemed to dislike the light from her wand, so while she momentarily dropped the patronus charm, she created a quick 'lumos' sphere and they seemed to stay back.

Soon, though, more of the necromancers caught on to the idea that, while their magic wouldn't halt her progress while she had on the charm, the naturally-occurring powers of creatures could. Wraiths appeared by the tons, as did boggarts, sprites, ogres, and a whole host of other monsters. Maya cast a quick sectumsempra at the first magician, and in seconds, he crumpled to dust and the beings he summoned slunk back into the earth. Biting her lip, she rubbed the charm around her neck for good luck and made a wild dash for the chest, trying to defend herself the best she could while also throwing curses at the necromancer constructs.

All the monsters, realizing what she was attempting to do, dove after the girl just as she exploded yet another soldier and was about to grab the heavy gold case. She squeaked in borderline terror, jumping to snag hold on the object before getting buried in a mountain of darkness. The constructs, for one, seemed rather pleased by the way they trapped her.

"ASCENDIO!" Maya screamed at the top of her lungs, and out she was shot from the pile, chest in hands. As she began to fall, she levitated herself slowly down, and the onlooking students began to squeal, clapping and whistling and generally congratulating her. Even Scorpius began to grudgingly applaud the Beauxbatons girl; for her first time doing anything remotely like this, she did incredibly well.

Maya, on the other hand, just looked more exhausted and relieved than proud of her achievement, and the instant the magician group was dissolved by the headmasters and she was guided to her seat, she promptly collapsed. It was like she hadn't known if she could do it up until then, and maybe she didn't. But either way, her performance was commendable.

"I told you! I told you she would do well!" Rose cried, flinging her arms around Scorpius' neck and practically tackling him into a hug. Okay, he had never thought that Rose, someone who barely tolerated quidditch, would be super into the Triwizard Tournament of all things, but he supposed she had a reason to be hyped this time. If the next person who competed did anything remotely like this, it was sure to be incredible.

"She was awesome!" Penny affirmed herself. "That's going to be really hard to top."

"Hard, not impossible," Miranda noted. "Though yeah, she's amazing."

From there, the next battles presumed. Boris, a boy from Durmstrang Institute, ended up fighting the egyptians, and with a few well placed spells he managed to get rid of them with relative ease. Much like Maya, he played smart and fast, thinking on his feet and proving himself a relatively good competitor. Scorpius, though he kind-of began to tune out the world when he realized he had his stuff with which to study for exams, could at least acknowledge that.

However, when Garret Shelverton, a ravenclaw from Hogwarts, came out to face the terracotta warriors, he didn't do what the others did. He hid out of sight for the first several seconds, not making a sound, thinking about what to do. When he finally came out, he levitated the stone warriors off the ground, petrifying one, disarming another, and walking rather calmly to the center. Though many fought back, casting a whole slew of spells at him, with a flick of his wand he opened up a crack in the earth that swallowed half the constructs up. He made taking the chest all too easy, and though Scorpius would have been inclined to clap along with the rest of his impressed piers, Garret was far too smug about it all. The few times he had interacted with the ravenclaw, Garret had always seemed well rounded with a fair amount of cockiness, but now he had a real reason to be cocky.

But all in all, he supposed it wasn't all bad. Actually, he had never seen his friends so enthused.

Scorpius remembered next to nothing about the Triwizard Tournament. This is ironic, mainly because his friends couldn't stop raving about the events for the duration of the month. Albus and Rose, being his best friends, recognized the fact that he didn't really care about the event beyond a casual interest and didn't force the subject down his throat. Instead, Albus whined about terrible teachers and talked about Penny, while Rose continued to complain about the stupidity of giving out finals just before Christmas.

Now everything was over, Beauxbatons had won the Tournament (for possibly the first time ever; apparently Maya was smart), and everything was thankfully back to normal, while Scorpius still basked in the idea that he would never be forced to keep up with gossip on the contest again. He could now proceed to empty his mind of everything related to the contestants (and he had learned quite a bit about these people that he would probably never interact with again, and most of the information was a collection of absolutely useless facts he had picked up from his overly-involved and curious friends).

"So, which quidditch team do you think will win the most matches this year?" Hugo asked the table. They were in Hogsmead, lounging at the Three Broomsticks, and they had practically claimed this table by now, a lot like how they had claimed the large car on the Hogwarts Express.

"You know, I really think hufflepuff stands a fighting chance this year," Penny commented, and James nodded. Claire, who sat next to him, bit back a smile. Thankfully, they didn't argue every second of the day since the Yule Ball - now it was more of a banter than fighting. It reminded the slytherin of him and Rose, actually.

"Yeah, I heard they got a really good seeker," the eldest Potter agreed. "They've been doing a lot better than before."

"Actually, gryffindor has an amazing keeper. They've been winning a lot of matches," Tammy added.

"And let's not forget Scorpius and Al. Their team won last year, and they've had a lot of practice. Scorpius is probably the fastest seeker out there," Rose mentioned. "And I don't even enjoy quidditch all that much."

"You come to every game now!" Miranda protested.

"As a way of cheering on the boys. Though it would be a lot more entertaining with everyone in the stands."

"Yeah, but if they aren't playing, it gives you an excuse to not pay attention," the ravenclaw pointed out, crossing her arms. Rose wasn't the slightest bit put out.

"Yup!" she remarked cheerfully, then continued to nurse her butter beer. At some point, she finished off hers and stole Scorpius', declaring that it was payback for all those games she showed up to. He replied by saying he thought it was a perk of friendship. She said that butter beer was another perk. Needless to say, she won that debate.

Scorpius Malfoy didn't think he would ever have to say this, but he had missed the days when their biggest social concerns were over quidditch, and he was so glad that they were back.

Christmas time at the manor was always more of a solitary event. For the most part it was nice - fun, even - , but the Malfoys always tended to hole up with a small tree and a few gifts in the center of the house, enjoying the day with just the three of them. There was pie and turkey and potatoes in the parlor, and they would drink eggnog and relax in the quiet recluses of their home. Sometimes his mother's family would come over, and Astoria's parents, Scorpius' aunt and her family would arrive, bringing gifts and food and laughter into the huge house with high ceilings. Other times his Malfoy grandparents would come, thin smiles across their lips and expensive boxes in tow, though their traditions were rather . . . well, traditional, and he felt as though the holiday had become formal just because they arrived.

However, all these moments were far and few between, and they often spent Christmas as a day of reflection and relative peace. Never before had the entire Potter-Weasley clan invited them over.

"Well, we can't very well say no to such a kind offer," his mother had instantly said, smiling at the note. "I think it would be fun to see your friends' families, honey." She had mused Scorpius' hair then, and due to Rose and the others he had sadly grown accustomed to it, so he let her ruffle his head without complaint. "What say you, Draco?" His father, who had been reading the paper when the note was delivered, simply shrugged.

"I'm fine with it. Potter's saved my hide a lot in the past; it might be nice to see how his family's doing." So, with no objections voiced, the Malfoys went to spend Christmas Eve and the following two days at the Burrow.

The first thing he noticed when Albus opened the door? This was not their habitual quiet Christmas.

The smaller children were chasing eachother around on the floor, dressed in little woolen jumpers, while plates of food steamed on the counter. Other than Al, there were no signs of his friends, though the living room and kitchen were a hub of energy all the same. All the adults, holding warm mugs of hot chocolate, laughed as old memories were recalled from their school days. An enormous tree stood tall and proud in the middle of the room, decked out in muggle lights and a vast array of ornaments. There were songs being lazily sung by a few women in the background, and Molly Weasly and her husband were at the stove, preparing pies and cakes with a few other relatives.

Everything was full of hustle and bustle and life, and it was so wildly different from anything that he had imagined.

"Oh, Scorpius!" Ginny called, beaming in the soft yellow light. "Harry and I haven't seen you over in forever! How have you all been?" Ah, yes. He couldn't believe he had almost forgotten about Al's mom. It really had been ages since they had hung out at the Potter residence.

"Fine, Mrs. Potter," he answered, taking a moment to examine his parents. They didn't seem too uncomfortable, so he figured they would probably be fine. "How are you all? It looks like you've all been pretty busy."

"Oh, we have, but it's been a great holiday so far. It's wonderful that you and your family could make it this year." The redhead held out a hand to Astoria. "I don't believe I've ever gotten a chance to introduce myself. I'm Ginny Potter, Albus' mom."

"It's a pleasure to finally get to talk to you," his mother replied, starting to speak for the first time since coming in the door. "I can't believe we've never really interacted until now, what with the boys being so close. And I'm sure you know Draco." The Malfoy managed a smile.

"I do, but only from school. I'm sure you've changed a lot since then, though. Scorpius is a great kid, you know," Ginny added, not a trace of maliciousness. With the slightest bit of embarrassment, Draco Malfoy laughed.

"Yes, he is. Thanks."

"I'm just gonna start taking Scorp upstairs, Mom," Albus said before slowly backing away. "I have a feeling this is going to take a while."

"Uh huh, darling," Mrs. Potter replied, so Scorpius was dragged away in record time to the long staircase. The long, long, almost never-ending staircase. Albus, used to climbing up a virtual mountain to reach the top floor, didn't even look winded. Scorpius considered himself athletic enough, but he shouldn't be required to do exercise on holiday break; that's far too much effort.

"You made it!" squealed Lily as she whipped open the solitary door at the end of the stairs, hugging the two boys quickly before ushering them in. "We've all been waiting for you to finally come up."

Inside the seemingly small room was essentially a lounge, an impossibly big space crammed into such a tiny floor due to magic. At the very end was a muggle TV (Hermione and Ron's birthday gift to Mr. Weasley several years ago) set over a fireplace, and a selection of cozy couches surrounded it, each one slightly different from the other. Soft glowing lights hung from the ceiling as decoration, and in the right corner was a smaller tree. James and Claire were lounging on the cushions together; apparently she'd been invited to stay for Christmas Eve before going home that night. To the right of the door from which Scorpius had just come in was a small kitchen, just wide enough for a few people to slide into, with bar stools by the island, two of which were currently occupied by Hugo and Faye (go figure, there). Between the kitchen and the fireplace area was a dining table adorned with holiday snacks that he could only assume Mrs. Weasley had made herself, and Miranda and Tam sat in the provided chairs and munched on gingerbread. All in all, it reminded him a lot of the slytherin common room, save for the happy holiday colors it was decorated in.

In addition to that, there were five branch offs from the main room, each one leading to something different. In the first, to the right of the door, was a girls bathroom, and next to it there was a bathroom for the boys (each one had doors and labels, thank merlin - he probably wouldn't have remembered which was which). An assortment of cozy bunk beds were in the third addition, the doorway parallel to the table, each one prepped with presumably hand-made quilts. The next opening, which was directly across from the bedroom, lead to a little nook for reading, and bookshelves lined the walls. The last one, right off what was essentially the living room, was an observatory, complete with a huge telescope in the far corner and a retractile roof.

It was homey and warm and inviting, and having his friends present made it even more incredible. He wasn't used to seeing them all together outside of school.

"Hey, Scorpius!" Penny told him cheerfully. Like Lily, she had been waiting near the door. "Nice to see you again. We just need Rosie and the whole gang will be here." She sipped her drink with a smile.

"Wait, where is Rose? Clearly Al and James are here, so . . . " he trailed off, brows knit. "Hmmm. Any idea where she is?" Apparently destiny decided to answer instead.

"Al is here, right? I know he left a while ago to wait downstairs for Scorpius but I can't find him anymore. I hope he came to his senses and decided to wait up here," Rose huffed, dropping into one of the chairs at the table. "Miranda, pass me the peppermint bark. I give up."

"Hi, my dearest cousin," Albus remarked, sliding in across from her. "And yeah, I've finished waiting." She looked up and narrowed her eyes.

"I've been searching for you for the last ten minutes. What made you decide to go back up?" she questioned.

"I think it might have been me," Scorpius jutted in, clearing his throat, and he liked to think that the redhead brightened.

"Scorpius!" she grinned, running up and squeezing him. "When did you get here?"

"A few minutes ago. You really didn't see Al and I walking up the stairs?"

"Nope. They go on forever, don't they?"

"I'd say. What is this place?" The gryffindor waved around a dismissive hand.

"Just a room Uncle Harry helped Grandpa install after we were all born. He figured that when we visited, it might be nice to have a floor for all of us to roam free in, to have our own space sometimes. The Burrow only has so many rooms," she snorted, gesturing to the space ahead. "And besides, now we get to do things."

"Things?" he questioned, but nobody responded. Instead, the cousins tugged him to the couch, and everyone else followed. He noticed that they were all wearing knitted jackets, scarves, or hats made from mismatched wool. "So, holiday clothes?"

"Courtesy of Grandma," James explained, tugging at his own scarf. "Made for family members or for people who are going to be family. Like Aunt Hermione right before they got married."

"Miranda, Tam, Penny, Faye, and Claire have homemade items, though," he noted.

"At this point, we might as well be family," An pointed out. "Some of us more than most." Claire pulled up her handmade vest to cover her blush. Penny didn't show much of a reaction, but Albus reached over and squeezed her hand, which made her bite back a smile.

"Now who's going to start the movies? We've been waiting for ages to do stuff because we wanted everyone to be together, " Hugo threw out. "I'm getting the food. You guys should set everything up." In seconds, all the food from the table had been laid out on the floor, the dishes laden with frosted sweets, bon bons, popcorn, candied fruit, and a whole array of treats he had never seen before. As the TV whirled into picture, they all grabbed freely off of the dishes. Tam, displaying her rare slytherin side, spilled chocolate chips down Penny's shirt, and Penny laughed and threw them back. James ate the ones that fell onto the couch, though Claire viciously scolded him for it, and while she wasn't paying attention Al accidentally nudged her and she fell off the cushion. Albus furiously apologized, mainly due to the death glare she gave him, and Lily laughed. Miranda sputtered, since Lily laughing at Albus of all people was unheard of, and Rose grinned furiously due to An's expression. He squeezed her hand, smiling as well, and before everyone knew it the film started.

Naturally, not one of them had paid attention to the first few minutes of exposition (apparently the first movie was something called Elf) and Rose, a veteran of the film, had to catch them up continuously on parts, though Hugo and Albus groaned in annoyance. By the time the second and third one started, they were all just as divided about the movie and still slightly clueless. Maybe it was just Scorpius being cheesy, but he was pretty sure that it was perfect.

Molly called them down for dinner three times before they heard her. They were on the top floor, there were at least five people talking at all times, and movies were playing, so it was to be expected. What wasn't to be expected was the firework show Uncle George sent into their room as a means of gaining their attention. Albus dramatically claimed that he nearly died of shock, but Penny kissed his cheek and he stopped talking, so they all cheerfully ignored him.

Now they were downstairs, holding hands with random Weasley-Granger-Malfoy people, and his palms were starting to get sweaty. The prayer (or was it a poem or a hymn or a proverb or . . . ) that Mrs. Granger ("Don't call me Mrs. Weasley," she had said, "Because that's my mother in law. Call me Mrs. Granger or Mrs. Hermione." Needless to say, calling Rose's mom by her first name seemed weird, so he was reduced to Mrs. Granger.) was reciting differed every year, as a random person was chosen to say grace each time. Nobody did it twice, unless everybody else above the age of ten had already gone or it's been years and years. In this case, it was clearly the former.

Finally, the gods had mercy on them, and she completed her words, allowing them all to devour heaps of potatoes, casserole, turkey, stuffing, pineapple pudding, preserves, cranberry sauce, and several slices of assorted pies.

Of course, after that lead to dancing and carols in the living room, and Rose snuck away. Albus tried to, but Penny looked so enthused about the prospect he had to stay. After a moment of hesitation, Scorpius bounded after her.

"What are you doing? I thought everyone had to sing," he commented.

"I'm the exception. Al and I always tried to slip away, even when we were little. Singing isn't our strong suit," Rose explained, looking at the stairs, lost in thought.

" . . . Where are you going?" the slytherin prodded, and she wordlessly pulled him up to the top steps yet again. To the fireplace area they went, and then into the hallway next to it. She tugged him to the edge, pressing herself right against the freezing glass.

"Look at that," she told Scorpius, and he pressed his own face against the enchanted glass.

"Woah." All the stars were out, glittering against the darkened winter sky. Snowflakes fell in flurries, dotting the fields and shining in their Christmas lights. And against the bright observatory, everything had a distinct rosy tint, even them. "It's amazing."

"It's like this almost every year," she admitted. "Usually Al and I watch for a little bit before shutting ourselves away in a corner. For some reason, getting closed in and hiding in a closet with lanterns and old movies and worn muggle Christmas novels is fun. I'd rather read and spare the world from my singing."

"I bet it's not that bad," he assured her with a sideways grin. She scoffed.

"Without warming up? I kill things. Birds just drop dead mid-flight," the redhead deadpanned.

"Just don't practice around any birds, then," the pale haired boy told her seriously, and she shoved him, because her serious voice was a thousand times more assertive than his.

"Oh, hush up. Let me have this," she grumbled, face nestled in her slightly oversized Christmas sweater. Not for the first time, he thought she looked adorable.

"Fine. I'll attempt to."

"There is no try," she laughed, then realized he didn't get the joke. "Sorry, Star Wars reference. We'll have to get you up to speed on that."

"Up to speed?"

"Don't worry, you'll be a fanatic in no time."

"Or so you say."

"Yup, and my word is law." Her word was law, so he dutifully remained quiet, silently enjoying their little moment of calm on what seemed to be the top of the world. Down below, their parents sang terrible songs, they explained Christmas traditions, and everyone got to see Al sing for possibly the first time ever (and he was good - really good). Surprisingly, he didn't give any of it a second thought. It was more fun this way.

On Christmas day, only Scorpius remained out of the many visitors their age. Though their absence was painfully obvious, they still managed to have a great day. James laughed so hard that eggnog poured out his nose, Al tripped over the doorstep, Lily got a candy cane stuck in her hair, Rose was brutally embarrassed by her parents (and she glared at him the second he even thought about it, so he supported the theory that she was a mind-reader), Hugo spilled chocolate pudding down his shirt, and Scorpius ended up completely soaked thanks to a prank he happened to stumble into. There were weird, stupid, uncomfortable parts, but on the whole, it was one of the best Christmases he'd ever had.

His parents, though he didn't see them nearly as much as he would have at home, managed to bond with many of the adults. Mrs. Ginny, Mrs. Granger, and his mother were practically best friends at the end of the exchange, and Rose's father could talk to his without glaring, so he considered it a small victory, or at least a sign of grudging respect. Surprisingly, Mr. Potter and Draco were rather friendly, and they chatted for quite a while about the methodology of the Ministry. Go figure, really.

As they left the next day, Mrs. Weasley (no, not Hermione) handed him and his family three knit sweaters. Though he had no idea how she got their sizes (and he was fairly sure he didn't want to know), Scorpius felt touched. He pulled his on immediately, taking it as a sign that yes, he was a part of this crazy and mix-matched family they had created.

"So, the final quidditch match has already gone by," Rose commented over dinner. "And now you have nothing to do with your precious time. We still have two months until school is out, you know."

"Don't remind me. That's another eight weeks of testing," Scorpius groaned, banging his head against the table, "and I am sick of sitting in class. I love Hogwarts, but doesn't it seem a little excessive to have all your finals on the last month of the year? It's going to be a nightmare to study for."

"Personally, I don't know what you two are worried about," Albus responded with a roll of his eyes. "I'm the one who's getting Bs and Cs. You both have As in all of your classes. You're going to do fine." Rose clutched Al's hand and starred deep into his soul.

"Albus, I know you mean well, but your self esteem and pride aren't wrapped up in your grades. You have no grounds on which to say we shouldn't be worried. You do not have a perfect record to take care of," she told him slowly, trying to avoid all the big words for clarity. With a huff of indifference, Albus went back to his stew.

"Yeah, whatever. But you guys are going to be Head Boy and Girl, mark my words," the bespeckled slytherin added solemnly. Another spoon of stew vanished before their eyes.

"That's ridiculous," Scorpius instantly replied with, because him as Head Boy was never going to happen. He had good grades, was quidditch seeker, and was a favorite of his many teachers, but Head Boy was so far out of his grasp it was sad.

"You said it. Me? Head Girl? Nope," she laughed, nearly knocking over her dinner: a chicken pot pie. "And the probability of both Scorpius and I getting into the Head positions? All I'm saying is that you should keep dreaming, Al. It's kind of you to say and all, but it's completely unrealistic." Al shrugged.

"I've seen weirder," he said casually, grabbing a roll off the table and lazily dunking it into the stew. "And frankly, you guys really don't know how good you are at school, do you?"

"I'm not all that great," Scorpius said instantly, not even thinking about the response. "There are tons of students who are way better at things than me."

"No, not really, but fine. Stay in denial." The Potter boy shook his head. "It's a wonder that you - "

"Hey, Al! Hey guys!" came a friendly voice, and behind them was Penny. "I usually don't see you all. It's nice to talk to you during lunch." She plopped down next to Albus and smiled brilliantly. Albus died.

"Nice to see you too, Pen," Rose grinned, sufficiently distracted from finals. Scorpius couldn't help but marvel at how quickly the conversation had changed. Man, if it was that easy to divert Rose, you'd think I'd be a master at it by now. I suppose some things will just have to remain mysteries, like who built the pyramids, how the first wands were made, and what Penny sees in Albus.

"Yeah, what made you come to the Great Hall?" the pale haired slytherin added.

"Boredom, I guess. I'm usually running out by the lake around now, or in the library trying to study, but I decided to shake things up. So, it's weird that the season's over, right?" she mused.

"Yup, really weird," Albus choked out, realizing that he had been in a silent coma of admiration for the past few seconds. "So, what did you . . . "

The conversation continued on, but after a minute or so, Rose and Scorpius lamely excused themselves, saying that they should go do 'a thing', and left the two alone.

Albus owed them.

Predictably, they both got amazing scores on the finals, but there was no way in hell that they would admit Albus had been right. He was Albus, and although they loved him, Scorpius and Rose would rather die than have to tell the Potter boy that he had correctly assumed that they were worried for no reason. So instead of celebrating the end of testing and their incredible results (they both scored above 95%, which was borderline impossible), they moped around the castle for the rest of the day in solitude.

Scorpius is mature. He swears.

That trend ended when Lily started worrying that they were catching a cold and began to stress out about their well-being, at which point they began to feel guilty and began to forcibly prove to her that they were absolutely fine. Albus was more confused than anyone, but it was far preferable to the smugness he would have surely sported. But hey, glass half full, testing was finally over.

Sadly, so was sixth year.

Like all the times before, the train ride back to Platform 9 and 3/4 was far too blurred and all too short. Scorpius, bundled up next to his friends in the large compartment, wore Mrs. Weasley's sweater, even though it was entirely too warm on the Hogwarts Express, but it made Rose tear up. Albus' eyes misted over a little, too, and he turned back to the window.

He had a right to be upset about the end of fifth year last time. This year had also flown by, and there was only so much time left until they left Hogwarts for good.

As he gathered his luggage, hugged people goodbye, and stepped onto the concrete to meet his parents, he thought about his friends. Tammy, the girl he had hardly known who had somehow joined their group unwittingly. Miranda, the kind, intelligent spitfire who helped make posters for the slytherin quidditch team, despite the fact that she was a die-hard ravenclaw fan. Claire, the witty and argumentative one, and James, who loved arguing right back. Penny and Lily, the kindest people he knew. Albus, his best friend since the first train ride, the one who encouraged him to play quidditch after forcibly dragging him to every game, the sarcastic one, the annoying Potter he's saddled with for life. And then, of course, there was Rose. Where did he even hope to start with Rose? She, like Al, was his best friend, but also his study partner, his constant source of banter, the genius, the one to always cheer him on, and to say that she would be the girl of his dreams (in a completely platonic way, of course) wouldn't be out of place. There was just something more about her, something special, just like all of his friends. He really loved them for it.

Wow. He means that, huh?

Later he might curse himself for being so sappy, because getting all worked up about his friends like he's never going to see them again is dumb. He knows it's dumb. He was in a train car with them for hours on end just minutes ago. Why does he miss them already? You, Scorpius Malfoy, have some baggage, and not the kind in your suitcase right now. Get it together.

He did, but only just before his parents found him on a bench, waiting. He missed them far too much. It's a bit of a problem.

The summer flew by, although it was littered with visits from his friends from school - namely Rose and Al, to be honest, but all of the others stopped by at some point. Now seventh year had begun, they were at Hogwarts, and everything was right with the world save one thing.

He was Head Boy. Time to panic! screamed the little voice inside his head. This is impossible! There's got to be a mistake! I'm not Head Boy! I blatantly told Albus it was impossible! Is the impossible now possible? Albus was right about something else? NOOOOOOOO!

Scorpius decided, after his full blown mental meltdown had passed, that he really hated the little voice inside his head.

So, feeling as though he was taking a walk of shame, he numbly threw everything he had just unpacked back in his trunk and began moving into his new private dorm.

He briefly wondered what his new roommate would be like as he opened the door. Would she be nice, would she enjoy quidditch, would she leave her stuff everywhere, would she -

"Scorpius! This is amazing! You're Head Boy? You mean Albus was right? But he's Albus," the girl exclaimed, and it was in this moment that he realized he had nothing to worry about. Against all odds, Rose Weasley, one of his best friends, was his roommate. Suddenly being Head Boy didn't sound half as bad, and the annoying doubts lingering around his mindspace cleared out.

This would be fun.

"And you're Head Girl, Ro. Astounding, isn't it?"

"Oh, definitely," she grinned. "At least I know you won't keep me up at 2am with awful music."

"You won't recite quidditch stats."

"I won't have to worry about constantly cleaning up. Most teenage boys are slobs, if Hugo's room is anything to go off of."

"I was seriously dreading the prospect of having to continuously pick up someone else's stuff. This is going to be so much better," he breathed out in relief. "Thank merlin!" She nodded.

"Thank merlin." Scorpius could definitely work with this.

It was official; Rose Weasley was a bloody goddess and she was the best roommate, friend, etc ever. Without her living with him, he would have died.

Since they had become Head Boy and Girl, they had a lot more responsibilities. They oversaw prefects, organized the occasional field trip, organized a lot of student government meetings, and scheduled general school events, like breaks and socials. It was a pain in the butt, and since he knew how paranoid Rose was about her classes, he tended to take most of the work. He didn't mind at all, really. Just sometimes, after a lot of paperwork, he would forget to sleep or eat or study or breath, but it was fine. That's the great thing about having a roommate.

Rose continuously felt guilty about the fact that he would sneak away some of her responsibilities while she worked on homework, so she made it her personal goal to make sure he paid attention to other things, like food and oxygen and friends. Because right, they had lives beyond this dorm.

Frankly, it wasn't all that bad. He wasn't falling into disrepair or anything, and the load would lighten after the month had gone out since student council would start meeting and they would take care of a lot more of these problems. Until then, he felt a little sluggish, but for incidences like these, he was eternally grateful that Rose was his roommate.

Today she brought him and entire chocolate cake with three tiers, chocolate icing, chocolate pipping, chocolate chips in and on it, that was then drowned in chocolate shavings. This was the best random gift he had ever received, and Rose was some sort of deity. Something better than a goddess, because this thing looked heavenly.

"This is the most amazing dessert I have ever seen," he told her seriously, mouth already watering. "What did I do to earn it?" She shrugged, smirking a little at his expression, though her heart wasn't really in it. Her smirk was way too soft and amused.

"Just being you, I suppose," she hummed, pulling out a few plates. "I suppose you want a piece?"

"Yes, yes I do. So much." The redhead laughed and cut out an enormous slice, setting it down before him.

"Thanks for everything, Scorp. I know it's been a stupid amount of responsibility, and even then I've only gotten less than half of it. Again, thanks for just being you and taking it from me by force," she recited, cutting herself another piece. "I'm not eating dinner. Cake is a better replacement."

"This cake is way better than dinner," he agreed, almost done with the slice that had been bigger than his two clenched fists. "And you didn't have to."

"Oh, yes I did. So eat your cake and enjoy it. I want to see half of this sucker gone by the end of the night, and then we're watching movies. I smuggled in the portable DVD player." Pointing an accusatory finger at him, she continued with, "And don't you even think about paperwork right now. We're doing that junk in the morning."

He did so without complain. It was a great night.

"So, you and my cousin are living together," Albus pointed out.

"Yup, and?" It was a fair question; there was really no where else to go with that information in a conversation.

"Oh, because I would kill to pick whoever I wanted to room with. Like, if Penny and I could be Head Boy and Girl, I'd love that." That was random, even for Al. Scorpius blinked.

"Why are we talking about this on the way to our next class?"

"I'm curious about something. What girl would you pick, if you could pick anybody to room with?" Albus pressed, and so the accompanying slytherin responded instantaneously.

"Rose. She's my best friend, and rooming with her is great." He stopped walking. "Wait, was there a test hidden in that question that I missed?" The dark haired teen looked satisfied.

"No, not anymore. Again, I was just curious. Now come on, we've got to get to transfiguration on time." With that, Albus continued on his way in silence, and after darting a few confused looks in his direction, Scorpius did as well.

In addition to seventh year bringing the rank of Head, it also brought in something else. That something - or someone - was Garret, participant in the Triwizard Tournament. And he refused to leave Rose alone.

"Today was the worst night of my life!" groaned the redhead angrily, crossing her arms with fury in her eyes. "If Garret ever bothers me again, I'll - "

"Woah, hold it, Rosie," he interjected, holding out his arms from where he had been sitting on the couch. She sighed and walked over, allowing herself to sink back into the cushions and be hugged. "Okay, are you going to murder anybody now?"

"Well . . . "

"Rose. Murder is bad. You could get expelled."

"He deserves it."

"Rose . . . "

"Fine, no," the enraged Weasley ceded, slowly calming down. "But Garret's got some real nerve." Scorpius had thought he knew who Garret was.

"Triwizard Tournament competitor?" he questioned.

"Triwizard Tournament competitor, that git," she said with distaste. "For a ravenclaw, he's a real idiot. He tried to make a pass at me in divination class, and I said no. He said that, since I was the smartest girl in school, it made sense to pursue the best, and he asked me if I wanted to go get a butter beer, and I said no again. Then he followed me down to herbology, continuously pushing me to go out with him, and I rejected him. He spent his free period outside my herbology class, starring at me from outside, and when I finally left, he cornered me again on the way to defense against the dark arts. I said yes to make him go away, then he pulled me off to the Three Broomsticks during my free hour, though it meant he would miss a class." She started scowling again. Scorpius loved Rose dearly, but he didn't trust that scowl. It meant someone would feel her wrath, and he didn't feel like dying due to Garret Something or other.

"And then?" he prodded. It jolted her out of her stewing.

"Right. And then he took me on the worst date - " Rose paused to shudder at the word. " - that I've ever been on. He slung an arm around me, began talking about how compatible we were, and when I tried to leave he grabbed my arm and said there was no reason to run away from my feelings. I should 'embrace his presence'." Scorpius couldn't help it. He began to chuckle hysterically.

"Embrace your presence, huh?" he grinned, knowing that this was a really dumb idea while Rose was still set on murdering but not able to stop himself. "Did you feel embraced, Rose?" Luckily for him, she cracked a small smile.

"Extremely, to my disdain." She sat up and cleared her throat. "I told him I was fine and firmly blew him off. He chased my from the Three Broomsticks and I attempted to avoid him. Thus I have come here. I am never leaving our dorm again." His laughter had started to die down again, but the thought of Rose as an old, isolated recluse that camped out in the Head chamber got him grinning again. She'd try to scare off the new kids that take residence here.

"Well," he finally coughed out. "Feeling better now? Like you don't want to kill anybody?"

"I would like it very much if one pesky Garret dropped dead and left me alone right now, but no, I'm not going to become a serial killer yet," she eventually told him with another sigh, leaning into his shoulder. "Why? I may be Head Girl, but nobody's really had an interest in me before. Can't he just go after somebody else instead?"

"Other girls aren't you, Rosie. And I'm sure plenty of people have had an interest in you before. You're very interesting in and of yourself," he commented. She scoffed, but she was grinning again, so he figured his attempts at cheering her up were somewhat successful.

"Interesting, huh? Don't you have to say that as my best friend?" Scorpius shrugged.

"Yeah, but you act like it's not true. I'm plenty interested in you." The Weasley girl shoved him.

"Oh, we both know it's not the same, but thanks for trying," she pointed out, untangling herself from his arms and getting up.

"Yeah, no problem," he responded, though he wasn't too convinced. His stomach had been doing some strange acrobatic routines around Rose lately, ones he really shouldn't be having.

"Bring me back something from dinner, okay? I'm sorry, but I'm not going out there where he can find me." With that, she hugged him briefly and bounded off to her bed, taking advantage of this time to do homework.

"Alright. Bye, Ro!" he called as he opened the door. A faint 'bye' was yelled back, and with that, he shut the door.

"I missed getting to watch quidditch games," Scorpius breathed happily. Rose gave him an odd look.

"You mean you missed these matches?" she questioned. "Who are you and what have you done with Scorpius Malfoy?" The slytherin bit back a small smile.

"Relax, Ro, it's really me. And no - I hate watching them, even if playing quidditch is bearable. I just didn't want to have any more on my plate in addition to classes and Head duties."

"So, why did you say you missed watching them?"

"Because ignoring them completely while sitting in the stands is an excuse to hang out with all of you and eat food," he replied firmly. "And I have absolutely no reason to pay attention now." She crossed her arms.

"I think Al is a decent reason. He's still playing, which is one of the major reasons why I'm here, other than to 'hang out with all of you and eat food'." The redhead flipped her hair in an almost defiant manor.

"Eh, it sounds solid to me," remarked James, reminding the two Heads that he was still there. He never thought he would say this, but Scorpius was starting to miss hearing James argue with Claire. Now they were sitting together in silence on the cold day, and the Malfoy was fairly certain that they were plotting something. "I love this sport, but there are limits."

"Oh, poppycock," Penny scolded. "He's your brother, and quidditch is always great."

"Agreed," Miranda jutted in, followed by a nodding Tammy. "Now shush and pay attention. The match is getting interesting."

"Hmmm," Scorpius hummed. "Define interesting."

"Well, I rather like watching it," Lily added optimistically, which was pretty much her role. "This is nice."

"Spending time with you all is nice. I'd rather talk and occasionally cheer." The pale haired slytherin put a hand over his heart. "Look at all the bonding we're fitting it. How touching."

"In what places?" quipped Hugo, and Tammy sighed.

"Boys," Miranda's cousin groaned. Though they had fun, Scorpius knew that the girls found them annoying from time to time (or consistently, but still). He supposed that they were probably sick of this, so he changed the subject out of pity.

"So, who's your favorite player in the world series?" he asked Penny weakly, trying to sound interested. Remember, you're doing this out of friendship. And sympathy, but mostly friendship. Her eyes brightened with a light that could rival the sun and he began to regret his decision.

"I'm so glad you asked! You know, it's nice to see you take an interest in professional quidditch, because even though you played sometimes you didn't seem that into the sport on a dedicated level," the strawberry blonde beamed with delight. "So anyways, there are so many to choose from, and based on stats and personal level appreciation I have a lot of conflicting opinions on the players. There's this one, and I'm fairly sure he played for the Harpies and one other team, and he . . . "

Thirty minutes later, Al had finished out and slytherin had won, yet Penny (with the occasional interjection from Lily and Miranda, who were also quidditch fans) had just ended her speech.

"There there," Rose told him with a devious smirk. "I would feel sympathy for you if you hadn't brought this on yourself."

"I thought you were supposed to be compassionate," Scorpius whined, somewhat haunted by his experience. Never again. "And you're my best friend; aren't you supposed to be on my side?"

"Regularly, but have you tried going against Lily? She's too nice, and she's my cousin. Double whammy right there," she explained, tugging at her scarf. "Wow, it's cold."

"I was listening to Pen, not Lily."

"Lily is on Pen's side, and therefore so am I." She looked him up and down - Scorpius was certain she could observe his misery - and finally huffed into the frigid winter air. "You know, I did freeze some of that enormous chocolate cake from a few weeks ago - not that it wouldn't have froze itself just by sitting outside - but perhaps if I thawed it . . . " He shot up straight in the air, the travesties of quidditch already forgotten.

"I would love to eat some cake right now, Rose," he told her with so much longing, it was almost embarrassing. She sat back down, pretending to ponder it.

"Okay, maybe you deserve some. But just remember to congratulate Albus on his amazing quidditch game," she teased, though deep down he recognized that this wasn't a suggestion.

The next ten minutes were spent trying to give Al compliments on the match he could scarcely remember thanks to Rose and Penny. Al, being his best friend, realized that he was being baited, and in a rare moment of pity, released him from obligation. Thus Scorpius reminded himself to save cake for the Potter and went back to his dorm, hoping that Ro had taken it out of the freezer already.

She hadn't, but it was all good. In the end, he got the last laugh, taking the uncharacteristically devious route and shoving her slice in her face. She chased him around their tiny kitchen for a solid minute complaining about his slytherin roots. He stuck his tongue out at her, displaying his vast maturity.

What else was there to be said? This was just what they did.

Winter break was once again spent at the Burrow with the rest of the Weasley clan, though now Penny's small family and Miranda's extended relatives were invited over as well. The food was fantastic, the decorations were homey, and the best part was that almost everyone was there throughout Christmas.

Well, no, the best part was actually convincing Rose to not hide in the upstairs corridor and to sing carols with everyone else. With much pleading, he managed to get her to perform one song with the rest of the group, and she did absolutely fine, much to Al's disbelief. As soon as it was over, she disappeared upstairs, and in seconds he was following her, mainly so she wouldn't be a complete recluse. Albus and Penny, later accompanied by the rest of the gang, made their way up after a while, and they all spent the night in the observatory, watching the snow and the stars while playing muggle board games.

This time, he made a concerted effort to spend more time with his parents, though he had the feeling that they weren't exactly hurt about his absence beforehand. They had made a lot of friends with the Weasleys, actually, and grown-up friends were something that were relatively hard to find.

On the way back home, he resolved to never have another quiet, seclusive holiday again. Though they weren't exactly bad, the two he experienced were light-years better.

When Garret nearly ambushed Rose on the way out of the dorm to her potions course after break, Scorpius realized that this was more than cockiness and wanting Rose as some sort of prize. This was a chance to be the part of a 'golden couple', and besides that, with the way that said redhead had been avoiding him, Garret's pride was hurt.

Though his first instinct was to kill Garret (Rose really was a bad influence, if not good company), he opted for a less violent approach. At first, he simply glared at the ravenclaw whenever he tried going up to talk to the Weasley teen. However, Garret was too bold and confident to stand down, so Scorpius tried to change directions, carting a befuddled Rose with him, whenever the boy showed up. Sadly, not getting the 'leave us alone or else we'll decapitate you' message, he simply ran after them, which lead to chase scenes equivalent to the ones in Rose's terrible action movies.

At long last, he realized just ignoring and avoiding Garret was impossible, so Scorpius resolved to stay at Rose's side every time she was alone, because like hell was he going to leave her to deal with a pushy git like that by herself. Thus with a new objective in mind, he created a playbook of contingency excuses and walked her to every class. Once she realized what he was doing, Rose herself was eternally grateful for the assistance, though she made a point to tell him it wasn't necessary if it was an inconvenience.

"The only inconvenience is him," Scorpius had answered, and that was that. He was her unofficial bodyguard against the forces of annoyance.

The sad part was, it was working.

Every time Garret came over, Scorpius was at Rose's side, and would then exclaim something loudly, such as, "Oh no! Don't we have to meet up with that professor right now?" Rose would feign shock and respond.

"Oh, right! I can't believe I forgot. That retake is incredibly important, too. We better hurry up and go right now."

"Don't want to be late," he'd add, and with a confused expression, Garret would slip back into the masses as they rounded several corners just to be safe.

This system was completely arbitrary and dumb, but it worked, and that's all that really mattered in the end. Thus Rose was able to move around the castle freely for the year without the impending threat of come-on related doom.

They all went back to the Three Broomsticks again only a few months before the end of school. Going there was practically a tradition now, and a tradition they didn't have any problems preserving.

For once, James and Claire were bantering again, though not with any real annoyance or anger behind it. It was something along the lines of 'who should get the next butter beer', so Scorpius simply smiled and moved on. Al aimlessly talked with Penny, Hugo and Faye laughed at one of An's jokes, and Lily and Tam observed the chaos around them with a mild interest. Scorpius himself was more than happy to chat with Rose, exchanging puns and smiles and food as the night wore on (they did talk to other people, too, just not nearly as often). Round after round of trays were delivered, and Scorpius insisted strongly on paying the bill, though Lily snatched it up and paid for it herself when no one was looking.

This was the stuff he lived for in his Hogwarts career. Not the social events, not acing the finals, not playing quidditch. He really loved the moments like these.

How many more of them would there be, though?

"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm . . . " Tammy was blurting out, and due to the incoming migraine, Scorpius was forced to stop her.

"About what? Weren't you and Rose just supposed to be going out on a girl's night?" the slytherin told her gruffly, hands massaging the bridge of his nose. He hadn't really known what to do with himself without Rose there in the dorm, and without their usual rhythm to fill the space, he decided to wait out the storm by taking a nap.

"Yes, well, later we stopped by a tavern to get drinks - no, not alcohol, you know Rose - and we just ordered some sodas before we went back. But Rose went to the bathroom and I turned away for a second and someone must have spiked it, because Ro got all loopy and - " Scorpius stopped her yet again. He would have been mad about this development had Tam not been his friend and looked incredibly guilty, but that didn't matter. He'd heard everything he needed to know.

"Alright, just . . . here, I'll help you with her." Rose was a bit of a dead-weight and didn't handle her spiked beverages well, since she had essentially passed out beside the door. He hefted her up and walked into the dorm, Tam watching over his shoulder as he put her on her bed. "She'll be fine, Tam."

"Really?"

"Really. And it's not your fault, so don't blame yourself," he sighed, looking at Rose with concern. Of course this would happen only weeks before school ended. Of course.

"Still, I'm really sorry," she told him desperately, searching his eyes for blame. He couldn't exactly fault her; he had carted several friends home before then. "Tell her that when she comes to."

"I will." Just like that, Tam fled the room, though Scorpius knew she'd feel better in the morning when Rose would undoubtedly declare she was alright and wasn't to be babied. His lips quirked up. Yeah, that was Rose at her finest.

It actually took another three hours for the redhead to wake up, jolting nearly out of bed, but all Scorpius felt was relief when she scolded him for waiting with her. She really was going to be fine.

"I can't believe we're almost out of school!" Lily gasped, looking forlornly at the date. "I mean, it's all gone by so fast, hasn't it? The last three year have just . . . poof." She slumped onto the table in exasperation, and Scorpius had to agree. If he had thought sixth year was short, he had been sorely mistaken.

"It's a shame we don't get more time to experience being in school," James agreed, only to frown seconds later. "Those words didn't come out of my mouth, right?"

"I'm afraid they did, my brother," Albus groaned from across the table. "And I couldn't have said it better myself. When did Hogwarts decide it was done with us?"

"When we grew out of it," Rose wisely concluded. "We're all becoming adults; we're not going to need schooling anymore. We're all going out into the real world next year." She frowned at that statement. "I'm going to have to pay for lodging and electricity and HOA and bills and taxes and I'll have to work and - "

"It's alright, Rosie," Miranda said gently, "and we all get it. But don't become paranoid yet." Miranda sucked in a breath of air and tried not to look dejected. "Yet."

"And you all called me crazy for acting forlorn about this at the end of fifth year," Scorpius scolded. "I told you it would go by quickly. Only two more years left. And Al said that was dumb."

"I didn't say those words exactly," Albus muttered, crossing his arms.

"Close enough, though. It feels weird knowing that we're never going to come back."

"Speak for yourself," Hugo said, being the only member of the gang still grinning. "I still get another two years out of Hogwarts. Faye and I are sticking around for a while."

"Faye isn't even here," Tammy pointed out in a rather obvious fashion. Turning back to the rest of their group, she got up out of her seat at the table and put her hands on her hips. "Oh, come on. Get out of your comas, guys. We weren't going to be students forever." Turning to Rose and Scorpius, she added, "Thanks for inviting all of us over to your dorm, by the way. We don't often get to see it." This was true enough; their friends rarely all gathered in the shared Head area longer than a couple minutes, and inviting everyone over while they still had it was an obligation to Rose. She had wanted to for a while and by merlin, she was going to get them all over to their place for at least one time.

"Yes, well, I have some movies and some food," Rose responded, getting up as well now that she had something to do. "Let's not focus on the depressing fact that we're going to be leaving soon." As Scorpius set out the tiny DVD player (then he enchanted it to make it big enough for everyone to watch on), she grabbed take out boxes on the counter. "It's from the Three Broomsticks," she added, and everybody groaned.

"Now I'm sad again," scowled Claire. "We have too much history there. I can't believe the - " James covered her mouth.

"I will get upset if you continue. Mortality has already set in," he warned, and with a wince she stopped. Though they all looked a little bent out of sorts, they crowded around the player screen, and after an hour of watching everybody was in good spirits again. If there was a way to spend their last few days, this was it.

Though the train ride was typically filled with conversation over conversation, the hustle and bustle of the car, and corny jokes, the last minute until they arrived back home was a somber affair. Everyone wasn't quite sure what to say, and what else was there to say? This was their last trip from Hogwarts.

As the doors opened up, all they were really able to do was distribute hugs and goodbyes amongst the baggage and trolley food, to wave at their friends and make promises to not grow apart. They all dallied away at menial things as an excuse to stay inside their compartment a little longer - especially the girls, and especially Lily, with her soft heart and emotional soul - until finally there were no more excuses to be had, so they left and tried to remember the good times they had together. It wasn't like this was the end of all things. They would live.

Hopefully.

Claire and James made the step off the platform first, holding their hands together tightly. She kissed him, full on the lips, before walking over to find her family. James, though momentarily stunned, smiled softly and strolled over to his parents. Lily followed suit, dashing off the steps and flinging herself into her mother's arms with a hug. Tam and Miranda, linking arms, waved at the Potters and soon were lost to the crowd. Albus paused before walking off the steps, grabbing Penny's hand.

"I know we've gone out a few times, and you said you liked me too, but can we keep going out? Because you're incredible and I'd really like it if you were my girl - " Penny shut him up by tugging on his collar and kissing him. Much like with James, it was very effective in shutting him up.

"I'd like that," she replied simply before waltzing off to her folks. Albus got off the train with the biggest and most lovestriken grin Scorpius had ever seen, his eyes glazed over as he stumbled over to the Potter family.

Only Hugo, Faye, Rose, and Scorpius remained, and as if realizing this fact, Faye kissed Hugo's cheek - there seemed to be a lot of kissing going on - and bounded away before he could respond.

Hugo, glowing a bright scarlet red, turned to Rose and told her, "Not another word. I mean it, Rose." With that, he was off, grappling into the arms of Mrs. Granger with a flaming face.

"Together?" she asked, and he loved that he knew her well enough to instinctively know what she was talking about.

"Of course." And just like that, she screwed her eyes shut and stepped onto the platform, only opening them once he nudged her. He felt oddly light, like he had left something behind that he had been carrying around for a while, and he didn't know if he liked said lightness or not. But either way, that unspeakable thing was gone, and it would take some getting used to. "You better stay in touch, Rosie. I can't imagine not talking to you or Al anymore. It would be like not having air."

"Oh, stop being so dramatic," she scoffed jokingly. "You don't need us."

"Yes I do. Best friends, remember?" He meant it as a quip but it came out as a reminder. She turned around and hugged him tightly.

No, she didn't cry. Rose would kick him if he admitted that she cried.

But she may have teared up just a little.

"Best friends, Scorpius," she said finally, kissing his cheek (and almost everyone else got kissed, so really, he deserved his) and going to rejoin her parents and sibling. "Bye! See you soon!"

"I'll miss you guys! See you soon, Rosie!" he called over the rush of people, though he wasn't sure if she could hear him or not. It didn't matter, though. It wasn't anything she didn't already know.

His cheek still burned as his family arrived back at the manor, the familiar obsidian and marble and silver rushing to meet them. Between the many inquiries about school and girls and quidditch, his mother leaned over and asked, "You seem a little different, darling. Are you alright? Anything eating you?" To that, he finally smiled.

"Nope. Nothing at all." Hogwarts was over, but all of them? Never.

Thank god this has all been finished. I am so sick of writing years at school I am half tempted to pull my hair out.

Sorry if it got a little choppy near the end; I just wanted to be done with writing Hogwarts stuff that I attempted to make shorter scenes that were more numerous. If anybody thought they were bad, I apologize now. It wasn't my finest work.

On the same token, thanks for sticking around! I hope everybody liked the first and second installment of this five part series. This chapter and the next one are going to be the longest so far (this one has a lot of time to cover and the next one has a lot of progression). It was a little harder to write for Scorpius since I'm a girl and Rose was a little more sarcastic, but I think I did alright. Don't worry, next chapter will be a little smoother, though it may take a while to come out (another month or two at most, though if I work fast, it might be out quicker than projected, much like this one) and I do have other stories that need love. I apologize in advance, anyhow.

Anyways, don't forget to favorite, follow, and review this story. Like I've mentioned in many a fic, I thrive off of validation and it encourages me to update faster, so please please please do that.

Lastly, if you are at all curious about the Yule Ball outfits for the girls, I have a Polyvore account and I (kinda poorly) put together some pieces that I thought represented the looks to provide everyone with a visual.

Lily: icy_blue/set?id=223709038

Miranda: navy_blue/set?id=223707294

Tam: red_roses/set?id=223707703

Penny: rose_gold_gown/set?id=223710655

Rose: exotic/set?id=223709867

Claire: touch_turquoise/set?id=223708799

Faye: vanilla_wings/set?id=223709469

Now that everything is over, bye guys! See you in my next chapter!