Fifth year was the year everything changed. Of course it was. The year of OWLs and, more importantly for Rose, the year the female population of Hogwarts became infatuated with a certain blonde haired Slytherin. The signs had always been there, Rose knew that. Girls in her dorm had discussed their not-so-clean fantasies, but Rose always shrugged them off, convinced being the well known son of a death eater would put them off. Not to mention the fact that he just slid around the castle in the shadows. They did judge at first, but everyone (except maybe her father who was fiercely loyal to first impressions) overcame prejudice at some point.
Rose was glad of course. When her crush no longer had to hide in the shadows and shy away to avoid confrontation for something that wasn't even his fault; of course she was glad. It was just he didn't seem to be hers anymore.
It was in fifth year the rumours started. When slightly more than half of the population of Hogwarts (mainly female but some male) noticed someone, the rumours were inevitable. One after another claimed that Scorpius Malfoy was the best snogger in the school. Again, Rose chose not to believe it; again, convinced that Scorpius would prefer to hide in the shadows. But everyone cracks at some point and it was Christmas when Rose cast her first silencing charm as she drummed.
It was a slap in the face when red-haired Tamara Brown came into the dormitory smirking, ready to describe a recent kiss. So much of a slap that Rose got As in three of her assignments; the first time in her whole four and a half years at Hogwarts. There again, however, it was also the first time she had to restrain herself from ripping off the head of Scorpius Malfoy.
If Professor Longbottom noticed a difference he didn't say. If he noticed the slight drop in her shoulders, or the sadness in her eyes after he asked Scorpius for an answer, he kept his mouth shut. If he noticed the way she no longer glowed or sprung to answer a question, he said nothing.
He didn't talk to the blonde either. If he caught sight of the sidelong, wishful glances that he gave a certain red-head he didn't mention it. If he saw the confusion and longing written plainly on his face when Rose tapped her fingers absentmindedly along the workbench, he didn't utter a word. Neville Longbottom was a bystander, aware that teenagers had to sort out themselves.
Scorpius was confused at the first silencing charm. Confused as to why, after years of practicing freely, Rose Weasley would silence her drumming. It never occurred to him that it might be his fault; he didn't even think she knew he listened.
Scorpius didn't notice the new looks he was getting around the corridors and halls. He didn't notice the girls stopping and staring, didn't hear the whispers of late night dates that surrounded him as he walked. He just noticed the sag in Rose's shoulders and the way she seemed to have disappeared from his sight.
It was a mistake, a one-time thing. A snog in a broom cupboard with a red-haired girl he was pretending was someone else. It didn't occur to him that she would find out, or that if she did, she would even care. It didn't occur to him that he might be responsible for her disappearance.
She used the map of course. Albus gave it to her without a second thought, aware of her heartbreak. He didn't ask questions, after all, he knew that she had inherited her aunt's talent for bat-bogey hexes, the memory of which were all to fresh in his mind.
And so Rose avoided him. She avoided him in class; always the last there and first to leave. She avoided him in the corridors and on the stairs. She avoided him, even though they had never had a conversation that lasted longer than 'please pass the plant pot'. Even though he wasn't hers to keep, she had lost him so she made herself invisible.