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Chapter 3

"You're doing what?"

"Shh!" Rose tried to quiet her cousin. "Yes, I'm going out to dinner with Scorpius tonight after work."

Rose and Roxanne had just ordered their food at the Leaky Cauldron. Rose had filled Roxanne in on the events of the past morning, concluding with how she now had a date with Scorpius Malfoy, of all people. Now Roxanne was getting excited about the prospect of Rose's date.

"Oh Merlin, Rose, this is crazy!" Roxanne exclaimed. "You haven't seen Scorpius in how long?"

"Three years," answered Rose grimly. "I wanted it to stay that way for a little while longer, too."

"Oh, but why Rose?" Roxanne asked. "You guys really had something going on back in seventh year. I remember you always used to sneak out of the dormitory and--"

"Roxanne!" Rose scolded. "Could you be any louder? Shush!" Rose's eyes narrowed as she continued. "Besides, that time has passed. I know we used to be…together. But now it is three years later and things change. People change." She added as an afterthought, "I've changed."

"Oh Rosie, you haven't changed that much," Roxanne sighed. "It's only a wonder on how you two did it though. You guys kept your relationship a secret from everyone, well, except me, of course. But what happened that made you guys break up? You never did tell me."

"I never want to see you again! I can't believe I gave everything to you…you coward!"

"Fine, go! Leave! It'll end up being what you do best, Rose!"

Rose's thoughts were brought back to the present as Roxanne waved a spoon in her face.

"Hello…are you there Rose?" she asked.

"Oh, sorry…but, yeah, I still don't want to talk about what happened."

"Well, obviously," Roxanne retorted. "Otherwise you wouldn't have gone all freaky on me."

The cousins continued eating their lunches, passing time while making small talk about their jobs. Roxanne actually worked in the Department of Magical Games and Sports, much to her parent's approval. She had always wanted to work there. From the time she had discovered when she was little that there was such a department, all the way through winning the House Cup with her Gryffindor team for the first time, she kenw she was destined to be there. The rush of Quidditch had definitely been proudly handed down to her by her parents, along with certain physical qualities. She had her father's stocky build that was good for sports, and her mother's cocoa skin. The Weasley hair definitely tired to prevail over the dark brown curls, but only managed a few streaks here and there.

Rose, on the other hand, was her mother all over again. She was a Gryffindor, along with her cousin. She did not appreciate Quidditch as a sport, but had not inherited her mother's fear of flying. She was a hard worker and tried to exude excellence at every possible moment. Her brown hair with red highlights had been bushy when she was young, but as she got older, she learned to tame it. She wasn't as tall as her father or brother Hugo, but she was definitely taller than her mother. She had a coming of age beauty that had definitely been appreciated by most of Hogwarts' finer male specimens, especially one in particular.

Rose shook her head, not wanting to think of Scorpius any longer. "How much time do we have left?" she asked.

Roxanne glanced at her watch, and then started getting ready to leave. "We have to be back in a little bit, and I can't be late. The Holyhead Harpies are coming in for an analytical viewing of the new brooms that have just been imported in from Japan. The brooms have yet to be released, but the Harpies want first dibs if they're as good as they say they are."

Rose started gathering her things as well. She threw some money on the table for their meal and the tip. Both began walking out towards the Ministry's visitor's entrance.

"Do you think I should go out with Malfoy tonight, Roxanne?" Rose asked.

Roxanne stopped walking and turned to her cousin. "Rose," she started, "I do not know what happened with your relationship with Scorpius. All I know is you were miserable after it supposedly ended. I don't want to see you get hurt again, but if you feel something, maybe you should give it a chance."

Rose nodded as they continued walking towards the phone booth. She wanted to go because she was curious about the past. Then again, curiosity killed the cat. Rose knew that there was definitely heat when it came to her and Scorpius, but she didn't want to get burned. When the cousins finally made it down to the Atrium, Rose turned to Roxanne and said, "I'm going to go tonight. I want to see what has happened in the last three years. Maybe we can become friends again."

"What if he wants more?" Roxanne asked.

"I don't know, I guess we'll just have to wait and see." Rose said goodbye to Roxanne, and started making her way back towards her office. She only had a few more hours to psych herself out for what could possibly be the biggest mistake she would ever make.