Disclaimer: Yeeeaaahhh…no :(

Author's Note: I finally got the chance to write again! :P Anyway, here's chapter two.

Chapter Two

N.E.W.T.s

Rose never knew it was possible to hate one specific sound with a fiery burning passion that put Hades to shame until it came to taking her N.E.W.T.s.

Her head was pounding, her hand was aching, and she had lost all feeling in her behind not even fifteen minutes into her Charms written examination.

It didn't help her flaring temper that she could hear Scorpius snoring a few seats behind her, having finished his own paper what felt like a thousand years ago.

But it wasn't his snoring that was grating on her ears: it was the sound of hundreds of quills, scratching thunderously across parchment, as her own stood stock still over the last question that glared tauntingly up at her.

One last terrible question and she would be done with Charms.

Yet she had been stuck on this last demonic question for a good ten minutes. Her brain felt like pudding and she felt as if someone was hitting her repeatedly over the head with a beater's bat. The exam had come to her mostly with extraordinary ease, but now she couldn't think of any sort of sensible answer for the life of her.

"Five more minutes!" Professor Flitwick chirped to them from the front of the Great Hall.

Rose felt panic surge through her, and she stabbed desperately at her parchment. Think, woman!

The seconds raced by.

"Three more minutes!"

GAH! ROSE!

Rose face-palmed when the answer literally hit her; Albus, seemingly bored out of his mind, had flicked a corner of his own examination paper at her.

She wrote down something that sounded ridiculously intellectual, and then set her quill down just as Flitwick called time.

"Accio!" he shouted, and the examination papers flew from their desks and towards the little Charms professor, who dove out of the way before they could knock him off of his perch. "You're dismissed!" he called, dusting himself off.

"So how'd you do?" Jessica asked a bit cheerfully as she fell into step with Rose. "I think I did really well—I'm actually quite amazed I got through the whole thing without any real hassle."

"Hassle, yeah," said Rose, rubbing her temples tiredly.

"Now all we have to do is the practical, and we're done with Charms!" Jessica babbled on as they made their way outside onto the ironically cheerful grounds. Rose glared at the sunny blue sky. It should be stormy and rainy and generally awful weather.

"That last question was tricky, though," Jessica continued as they took their customary seats underneath the birch tree. "What is the customary spell for—"

"Jess, I really don't feel like talking about our exams," Rose cut in smoothly.

"Oh no, you think you did awful, don't you?" Jessica asked her nervously.

"No, I just don't want to talk about it."

Before Jessica could say anything, Albus hurried over to them. "Can't talk long—off to practice some spells with Jackson—you haven't got any chocolate would you?"

"Why?" asked Jessica, raising an eyebrow.

"I heard from Jimmy MacMillan that the instructor for the practical pretty much lives off of it—"

"So you're going to bribe her?" Jessica raised both eyebrows.

"No, not bribe her, just get her in a good mood that will make her more inclined to give me good marks," said Albus.

"So, yeah, basically bribe her," Rose rolled her eyes.

Albus glared at her. "Anyway, do you?"

"No, and I advise you not to listen to anything Jimmy MacMillan says, Al. I'd think you'd learn not to by now."

After he stalked off angry and empty handed, Rose looked over at Jessica. "What do you even see in him?"

Practical Exams: Every N.E.W.T. student's worst nightmare—unless you're Scorpius, Rose thought bitterly, more than annoyed when she caught him laughing and talking at lunch with one of the Charms instructors, who was drinking in his every charismatic word eagerly.

"How does he do it?" she demanded of Jessica, turning away from the scene.

"Do what?" Jessica asked distractedly as she practiced pouring herself some pumpkin juice with a tricky levitating spell.

"Make everyone like him!"

"Well, let's see…. He's brilliant, outgoing, good-looking, wears awesome shoes, and his hair is pretty."

Rose snorted. "His hair is pretty?"

"It is! Don't tell me you haven't noticed."

"Of course I've noticed. I just wouldn't call it pretty."

"What would you call it then?"

"…sexy…"

After the two of them were done laughing, their somber pre-exam mood settled back over the table.

"Just think…this time in three weeks we'll be graduating!" Jessica said brightly.

And with the mention of graduation, Rose once more began to think about Camelot.

It felt like Scorpius had mailed the letter to his father days ago, when in actuality it had only been this morning.

Jessica noticed her thoughtful silence. "What are you thinking about?"

"Oh, graduation," Rose said airily.

Jessica looked at her suspiciously. "You're not still over the moon about that Camelot expedition are you?"

"So what if I am?"

Jessica merely sighed, shook her head, and spooned more mashed potatoes into her mouth.

After lunch was over and everyone had filed out of the Great Hall, the doors were closed in their faces as the instructors prepared for the practical exams.

"Hey, look on the bright side—"

"There is no bright side," Rose snapped at Albus, who had joined her and Jessica in the Entrance Hall only moments before.

"Sure there is! We're not the only ones suffering through exams. The fifth years have their O.W.L.s."

"O.W.L.s?" Rose laughed scornfully. "Gee, poor little babies, suffering through O.W.L.s! Their futures aren't on the line, are they?"

Albus raised his eyebrows. "Someone's a bit edgy."

"Ha, am I?"

"Rose, you're being ridiculous," Jessica said, looking annoyed.

Rose opened her mouth angrily, but before she could say anything, Professors Johnson, Longbottom, and Flitwick stepped out of the Great Hall.

"Smarten up, you lot," said Neville loudly over the strong babble of voices. "The exams are about to start."

"You'll be called alphabetically in groups of five," Flitwick added, unrolling a long scroll of parchment.

Rose sighed. Being 'Weasley, Rose' meant she'd be one of the last to take the test. She sat herself down on the bottommost step of the grand staircase and tried to get comfortable as "Boot, Burke, Corner, Cashmere, and Davies," were called.

"Ready, Weaslebee?" Scorpius asked with a cheeky grin as he sat next to her.

"Oh, done snogging the instructor, are you?" she snapped, causing his grin to widen.

"Jealous, Rose?"

She snorted, "Hardly, she's one hundred and fifty."

Jessica and Albus, who were close by, rolled their eyes and shook their heads at the two of them.

Scorpius just kept grinning. "She's had a lot of experience, then."

Rose allowed a small smile. "I hope her dentures didn't fall out."

He looked confused. "Dentures?"

Albus and Rose's raucous laughter was drowned out as Professor Johnson called, "Finnigan, Goldstein, Goyle, Hawkins, and Kataiff."

"Today is taking forever," Rose groaned.

Scorpius looked right at ease. "I think it's a lovely day."

Nearly everyone in hearing range shot him a look full of malice for daring to suggest it was a lovely day.

Scorpius was oblivious to their glares as he grinned lazily at the room.

"Oh, no, it's almost our turn," Jessica fretted, pacing back and forth across the Entrance Hall. The remaining seventh years watched her progress with bored expressions.

It was to Rose's immense relief—for it got rid of both Jessica and Scorpius—when Professor Flitwick appeared and called, "Malfoy, Mellark, Nott, Poe, and Potter" into the Great Hall.

"Good luck!" she told them as they began the dramatic journey into the Great Hall.

"Thanks, love, but I don't need any," Scorpius told her with a characteristic arrogant smirk.

Rose was quite glad to see the doors shut behind them.

After that, Rose lost track of time. As the minutes ticked by agonizingly slow, she found herself switching her position on the stairs every few seconds, and after finding herself flat on her back with her head hanging off the step, decided sitting down wasn't working, so she took up Jessica's pacing, all sorts of spells and incantations flying through her mind, her wand twirling subconsciously between her fingers.

"Yes," Milo Zabini was telling Kiara Thomas loudly, "Father wishes for me to pursue a job with the Ministry. He's always telling me I have the refinement and the intellectual cuttings for a high-ranking job."

Kiara and Rose exchanged smirks when Milo wasn't looking.

They were saved from the rest of his monologue as Professor Longbottom walked out.

"Are you the only ones left?" he asked, smiling at Rose, Kiara, Milo, Jackson Shephard, and a girl Rose recognized as Amanda Radkirk.

"Let's skip the small talk and get this over with," Rose told Neville irritably.

He smiled understandingly at her. "It's not as bad as you think."

"It's worse, I expect," Jackson said pompously. "These exams are meant to challenge us, after all! They're supposed to be difficult!"

Neville looked amused. "You're too much like Melvin."

"Anyway," Rose cut in, not knowing who Melvin was and not caring that Jackson acted like him, "can we just take our exam?"

"Of course, right, sorry," said Neville smoothly, turning around and opening the doors once more to the Great Hall. "Pick an instructor, and directions will be given to you. Good luck," he added with a grin.

"Yeah, yeah," Rose said, walking over to a small instructor who looked as though he could be distantly related to Professor Flitwick.

The instructor smiled brightly when he caught sight of her. "Rose Weasley, I presume? Your red hair gives you away!"

"Yeah, and my name's on that list you've got there in your hand."

He laughed a little, looking amused. "More like Ron, I see."

"You really mean that? People generally assume I'm more like my mother, partly because I tend to be a bit of a know-it-all sometimes."

He laughed again, and they shook hands as he grinned and said, "I'm Professor Murdock, pleasure to meet you. Now, shall we begin?"

"We shall," Rose smiled.

After quite a few tricky spells and incantations—one of which resulted in charming Professor Murdock's desk to do a series of amazing acrobats—Rose completed her practical exam with, what she felt at least, flying colors.

"How'd you do?" Jessica squealed as soon as Rose made her way into the full Common Room a few minutes or so later.

"I think I did brilliantly," Rose grinned.

"You didn't blow anything up?" she asked nervously.

"Why? Did you?"

Jessica's eyes widened and she pointedly looked in Albus's direction. The poor lad was staring forlornly out the window, sighing dramatically every few moments.

"Oh, no, what happened?" Rose whispered, dropping into the empty seat next to Jessica.

"Well, as far as I know, he was doing excellent, until…well…there was this huge explosion," Jessica told her softly. "Instead of levitating something or another, he had blown up his instructor's desk."

Rose grimaced sympathetically in her cousin's direction. "How much do you reckon they'll take off for that?"

"Hopefully not too much…I mean, it was quite impressive, even if it was the wrong spell," Jessica relented.

Rose nodded, and then asked a bit too casually, "And…ah…how did Scorpius do?"

Jessica smirked at her, but then said, "Brilliantly, as always."

Over the next two weeks, the seventh year N.E.W.T. students came to the collected conclusion that they were in Hell. The examinations weren't necessarily the issue—in actuality, they could have been quite simple, were it not for the fact that their futures and their careers relied on how well they performed. If one was to fail an exam, there was a whole other year in which they would have to wait until retaking the test, and nothing was more degrading than the thought of having to go through it all a second time.

After Charms, it was Potions. Coupled with the stress of the test, and the noxious fumes of the many concoctions, many were lucky to get through the practicals with a clear head. Some of the students performed Bubble-head Charms, though this idea—at first thought of as brilliant—quickly turned out to make potion-making a trifle more difficult, since the bubble obscured their vision somewhat and made it hard to see their cauldron clearly at all. It didn't help that the Instructors breathed down their necks during the whole thing, the meaner Professors tutting and snickering at any mistake.

Following Potions was Transfiguration, which proved to be even more demanding than the latter. Though it was a great relief to get away from the putrid smells of badly concocted potions, Transfiguration called for quick wit and the ability to remember all of the correct wand movements and the spells that belonged to them.

For Herbology, the students slaved away in the hot greenhouses tending plants with toothy mouths that seemed to have a great taste for human flesh. After nearly losing a hand, her trimmers, and a clump of her hair, Rose miraculously managed to satisfactorily extract the necessary potion ingredients (roots, pods, etcetera) from the demonic plant.

Rose didn't even bother trying in her History of Magic exam. However, she did catch up with a well-deserved nap.

The Defense Against the Dark Arts exams were another matter entirely. Faced with all sorts of curses and poisons, and even dark magical creatures, students were lucky to get through the exam without a scratch.

"I swear…these practicals are a bit unorthodox, don't you think?" Rose growled, tapping her arm with her wand and healing a long and bleeding gash courtesy of a Red Cap instantly.

Her instructor noted her skill in healing the wound so easily and hinted strongly of bonus points, and Rose was beaming by the time her exam was finished.

So it was with much gusto that on the very last day, after the very last N.E.W.T. exam, the doors were thrust open dramatically and the seventh years ran out onto the grounds, laughing and screaming—and in the case of Chelsea Corner, sobbing hysterically with relief.

"I think I did well," Rose told Scorpius happily, stretching out underneath the birch tree and resting her head in his lap. "I'm pretty confident I got 'Exceeds Expectations' in everything…maybe even managed to scrape up a few 'Outstanding's."

"Congratulations," he said with a grin. "I, on the other hand, know for a fact I got 'Outstanding's in everything."

Rose rolled her eyes but smiled anyway. "I'm going to laugh in your face if you're wrong."

"Yeah, I don't doubt that."

"We're doooneee!" Jessica sang loudly as she collapsed next to them with Albus in tow. "Ah, sweet relief."

"How do you think you did?" Scorpius asked Albus.

"Decent," Albus said modestly.

Jessica smacked him lightly on the shoulder. "You did excellent, and you know it!"

"Well…at least I didn't blow anything up this time," Albus said with a grin.

They all fell into a comfortable silence, and Rose was actually just about to drift off to sleep when Scorpius suddenly said to her, "I almost forgot, Dad wrote back."

Rose sat up so fast their heads smacked together painfully.

"Ow!" they both hissed, clutching their heads. Albus and Jessica tutted at them with smirks on their faces.

"Well, what did he say?" Rose asked anxiously, rubbing her temple tenderly.

"See for yourself," Scorpius muttered, digging in his pocket and pulling out a folded envelope.

Rose snatched it at once and the three others watched her rip out the parchment. In silence, they merely stared at her as her eyes flew across the paper.

After a few minutes in which no one spoke, Jessica cleared her throat. "So…what does it say?" she asked, looking a bit annoyed.

Rose looked over the edge of the parchment at them. Albus and Jessica raised their eyebrows questioningly and Scorpius snorted and shook his head with a grin on his face.

"He said…well, he said," Rose cleared her own throat, and a wide smile split across her face, "he said yes."

End Note: Weee :P