Disclaimer: Harry Potter sadly isn't mine... jk. (JK Rowling's, that is).

As I burst into the Gryffindor Common Room, Al was nowhere in sight. He must've expected me coming and had hidden while laughing his head off. Did I mention he was my favorite cousin? Please.

"Rose!" James came hurrying toward me, his eyes wide. "Have you seen Al anywhere? Bloody hell, if I can't find him by tonight dad will definitely Avada Kedavra me!" That was strange; so he didn't know where Al was, either?

I shrugged. "Sorry, but I dunno where he is. I went to sen—" I stopped, forgetting that I had gone out after curfew and if James knew, the whole school would probably know by morning. Rose-breaking-school-rules had become a sort of gossip topic here. "I, er, went upstairs, and when I came back, he wasn't there anymore. And he had just been sitting here finishing his potions essay!"

At least it wasn't entirely a lie.

"He might've gone out," James guessed, too anxious to notice my mistake (Phew!) "Well, thanks anyway, Rosie."

"Wait!" I called after him as he turned to exit the Common Room, "It's past curfew!"

Dominique drifted towards us. "Young children shouldn't be out and about at night," she scolded, "There can be monsters out there."

Yeah, like Filch and Miss Norris.

An idea flashed in my head. "Hey, Domi, you're older than us! So you can go find Al!"

"I shall do no such thing," she pursed her lips. "If he's not in the Common Room, he'll probably have met Filch by now."

"Which isn't a good thing," James countered, "He's your cousin too, Domi. Family's there for each other. If mum heard it's partially your fault that Al got into trouble, she'll definitely be mad at your dad."

James was brilliant. Truly.

With a sigh, Domi agreed. "Fine, fine. I'll go look for him. Too bad you're family, otherwise I could've used my Veela charms."

Before I knew what was going on, James jerked on my arm (the second time somebody has done that tonight) and dragged me with him out of the portrait hole. Domi had left already, and as I shot James a questioning glare, he threw something over me. "What in Merlin's name are you doing?" I hissed at him. "Are you crazy? It's past curfew!" Not to mention I almost got into trouble once already.

"Invisibility cloak," he hissed back. "Don't tell dad I have it. And watch this!"

Curiosity won over, and I watched as he produced a clean but old piece of parchment out of his pocket. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good," he breathed, tapping his wand to the parchment. Suddenly, a map appeared on it. I gasped, and he clamped a hand over my mouth (for the second time!) to silence me. "It's the Marauders' Map," he explained quietly as we began moving down the hall. I noticed a dot labeled "Rose Weasley" and "James Potter" were also moving along on the map. "Nicked it from dad's desk."

My breath caught in my throat when I noticed "Scorpius Malfoy" heading toward the way James and I were going. Not good. Not good at all. I was too engulfed in the thought of facing Malfoy again that I didn't even bother commenting on the fact that he had stolen the map. Guess we weren't the only ones out past curfew.

"Al's not on the map!" James's panicked voice snapped me out of my thoughts. He was right; Al wasn't.

"He should be, though, right?" I whispered, "Unless he's left the school grounds...and that isn't very likely, coming from Al!"

"This map is infective!" James let out a furious growl and almost chucked the map, but I managed to stop him.

The sound of footsteps were now painfully close to ours. We both stopped walking. Well, sneaking. "I thought I heard voices," Malfoy mumbled half to himself, "Yet there's no one here. How very strange.

I pulled the cloak off me. Malfoy too a step back, his eyes filled with shock. "Very strange indeed," I concurred.

"Weasley!"

"Malfoy," I greeted him dryly.

"Potter," Malfoy growled as James too revealed himself, a small grin on his face.

"Malfoy," James noted him. "Right. Now that we all know each other, at least our last names, scamper away! There's things to be done!"

He scoffed. "Malfoys don't scamper. Now answer me this, Potter," he went on, "What are you and Weasley doing out past curfew?"

Feeling bold, I put in, "We're related, Malfoy, in case you forgot. So don't get any wrong ideas."

"T-That's not what I meant," he sputtered with annoyance. "You know you still owe me, Weasley."

"Coming to find me already, Malfoy?" I spat, not in the mood. Where Al was was more important than bickering with Malfoy again. "I owe you, yes, but think wisely before you ask me a favor. You only get one."

James's eyes flashed curiously from me to him. "What are you two talking about?"

"Nothing," he growled, "that a Potter should know. Anyway, I ought to get going. I'm breaking school rules too, and father will go mad if I got detention."

"No," I said.

"No?"

"You know the secret now, at least some of it. Unless we use a memory charm on you..." I trailed off, not needing to finish.

His eyes, blazing with fury, met mine. "Don't you dare, Weasley." For a moment, I half expected him to remind me that I owed him to escape this time, but instead, he said, "I'm coming with you."

"W-What?" James choked.

"Are you out of your mind?" I asked. What had happened to the If-Daddy-found-out-I-broke-school-rules-he'd-kill-me?

"Yes, I am," he grumbled, "But I bumped into the other Weasley earlier, and she asked me if I had seen the other Potter anywhere. She offered not to report on me if I helped her look for him, and if that's what you two are doing as well, then we might've as well look together."

The other Weasley and the other Potter...he must be talking about Dominique and Al. Either Domi used her Veela power on him, or some other hidden power that only Merlin knew, he would not have agreed to this. I almost wanted to smack some sense back into Malfoy. "W-Well, why not? We're breaking rules already, and we might've as well try not to be found," I rambled. "I mean, oh, never mind..." I trailed off, blinking in confusion. I didn't even understand what I had just said. Malfoy and James blinked back at me.

I held out my hand to Malfoy. "Truce?"

"Until we find Potter," he reminded me, taking my hand and shaking it.

"Yes, until we find Potter—I mean, Al."

A/n:

My second serious RosexScorpius fanfic... what do you think? Like it? Hate it? Continue? Thanks for the reviews! They make my day :)

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