A/N: That took a little longer because of my exams that are coming up

From now on many things will happen so stay put!

I really would love a cute review!

Enjoy!

Chapter 7: Destroyed plans

Rose could swear at that time that her head weighted over a ton. Actually, she would willingly make an Unbreakable on it –do the secret hand-shake and all- had she been able to make her fingers function properly, or simply move for that matter.

Her whole body was aching, in that deep, shallow pain which doesn't make you scream out loud but tortures you slowly. She had already decided to act 'dead' for a little while just to miss evening practice when a little, tiny detail popped up in her head.

She was pretending to be her dear cousin Albus at the moment and she had been unconscious for Merlin knew how long. So there was a high chance she would wake up to a couple of high-ranking Aurors with a one-way ticket to Azkaban only for her eyes.

That speeded up the 'waking up' procedure noticeably. She opened her eyes wide and gasped for air.

"Potter?" A male voice spoke from over her –or hopefully Albus'- head. She turned her head around to face, surely not the last person she'd want to see, but certainly one of those who followed in line close behind Voldemort, Malfoy and McFusty.

"Au-Auror Alderton that… is it… are you..?" She mumbled and realized that even she had a hard time decoding what she had said.

"Yes, it is I." To her great surprise he was able to understand her words. Or perhaps it was that he hadn't been attacked by a dangerous spell lately…

"Where am I?" She blurted out and reached up a hand to mess her black hair.

"St Mungus'." His still blurry face looked kind of worried to her.

"Why not the Infirmary in the Auror Department?" She questioned.

"Is this really the time to make small talk Potter?" Mature hotness sighed defeated at the blank looks he was receiving.

"As we can both tell you bumped your head a little too hard and we didn't feel comfortable to leave you there." The guy replied uncomfortably, like a person who didn't like to expose his feelings to people but hated being dishonest even more.

"Wow!" She exclaimed and once again bells rang in her head.

"My clothes!" She shouted. "Where do you have them? I must get my…" Her voice trailed off as she noticed something twitching in his face.

"I mean…" She wondered if she should rather make up some excuse or just let it pass and act like it never happened.

"Your little bottle, right?" He beat her to it wearing an uncertain look on his face as well. His eyes were pinned on the floor as he handed her a pile of clothes.

Fortunately it didn't take her more than a second to find the polyjuice potion. It was untouched.

She shot him lots of worrisome looks before finally opening it and drinking almost half of it at once. He, complying with her silent request looked away again.

Soon an uneasy silence had spread around them. They failed to look at each other and pretended they had something very important to work with. Rose, on the one hand was fixing her covers and Alderton was searching his pockets for something that apparently was extremely important yet nowhere to be seen.

"You'll be ok soon." The older Auror was the one to quit his meaningless search and break the silence first.

"Oh!" She nodded obediently.

"What happened to me exactly?" She asked after a while.

"You got hit by a rather strong curse, an Impediment hex to be exact."

"Who did it?" Deep down she already knew the answer to it, but asked anyway.

"That Malfoy guy, I'm afraid." Just as Rose had expected it could have been no one else but him. Of course that's what happened to her for trying to apologize to him.

The gods were punishing her for ever thinking about it; just as she had thought Malfoy and her were meant to be enemies.

And to think that he actually had the guts to attempt to kill her! She had certainly not expected that. It was all a little too much for her to understand.

"Are you feeling better now?" Alderton forced her out of her own dreams.

"Yes, I think. I mean I'm all bandaged so I ought to be better right?" She half-laughed at that but the other didn't waver.

"No, I meant with your other… problem." He pointed at the small, half-empty bottle in her lap and Rose gaped at him.

"Wha-wha-what do you mean?" She stuttered like a real expert.

"Well, you know, I've noticed it from last time, when you run away from me in the classroom." Mature hotness shrugged embarrassed.

"You haven't told about this to anyone now have you?" Her heart almost skipped a beat at that. He knew… everything. He was going to expose her, lead her to Azkaban or maybe even finish what Malfoy had started and send her to hell for her sins…

"N-no." She confessed already preparing herself for the impact.

"Of course you haven't. They wouldn't have let you enter the program if you had." He muttered gloomily.

"When did this happen?" He crossed his hands and waited for an answer which she knew she owed him.

"Just a week before I came here." Alderton accepted her reply with a nod.

"So that's why you passed the health tests." Well, Rose hadn't passed those tests herself, the original Albus had before he decided to go bonkers and leave Auror training but it was sort of the same thing for Auror Alderton, she thought.

"You know it is totally against the rules…" He reminded her.

"Yes, Sir. I'm very s-" A hand came very close to her head stopping her from going any further with her apologies.

"Don't apologize to me Potter." He stared at her pointedly. "I don't need someone to explain it to me to understand what it means to risk everything to accomplish your goals." His handsome eyes softened as he looked at her and Rose felt a strange warm feeling wrapping around her.

She had no doubt at the time, he really did understand.

"But I can't ask you to keep this a secret." She muttered.

"Then don't." He shook his head determined. "I don't need to be told anything. Consider this forgotten." He almost winked at her.

"Thank you! I mean…" She felt so overwhelmed by that unexpected turn of events that words failed her. The suddenly she came to her senses, like she always did after being very excited about something. It was like her mind was putting a stop to her happiness on purpose.

"Wait a second Auror." She protested. "There's no way you approve of this kind of thing." She shook her head strongly but the man just smiled.

"I did a little search on my own. In that Quidditch accident you had some weeks ago you didn't just hurt your knee, did you?" His words proved Rose's assumption. All this was a misunderstanding. There was no way a respectful person like Auror Alderton would ever agree to hide her awful secret. He had obviously misinterpreted her words and actions.

"I-I…" She was not sure what to reply to that. Should she keep lying or admit it all and run?

"It's ok. I understand. There was some other injury, right? And because you thought that they would kick you out of Auror training you lied. That's why you're taking this medicine all the time." He recited what seemed to be occupying his mind for a long time. That was the moment Rose realized just how innocent and yet clever the brown-haired Auror before her eyes was. She, herself, could not have come up with a better excuse to save her arse.

"I'm very sorry. It must be painful. If you ever feel like practice is too much for you don't hesitate to tell everyone that I wanted to talk to you about something urgent and slack off a little." He gave her his most charming smile, and that was the moment Rose realized that lying to kind, smart and extremely attractive Aurors was not her thing.

"No!" She called out. "It's not like that." Judging by his calm and kind glance he didn't look like he believed her.

"That's not how things are; so please don't be so nice to me!" She didn't care if she sounded like a little girl, she had to say that.

"I am because it's the right thing to do." He persisted.

"But you don't understand! I'm not that good a person! I lied!"

"Did you lie when you said that you were born to be an Auror?" Auror Alderton looked deep into her eyes, as if he knew all truth lied there.

"No…but-" She replied honestly.

"Then there's nothing more to say about this." He concluded and not so much because the result suited her but rather because his eyes were very wide and cute and blissfully innocent she decided to comply, at least for the time.

"So get some sleep and I'll come by later to take you back to the Headquarters." She nodded and he disapparated.

After that she tried for a while to sleep; rolled around the bed about ten million times and messed her bed sheets so much their own mother wouldn't be able to recognize them- or something like that…

Five hours later, when the Auror returned she had already accepted the fact that she could not sleep with such a guilty conscience. That guy, she was sure, possessed a strange character. When socializing he was strict, professional, very observant and completely devoid of any emotion other than respect and determination. However in a more personal level he could easily be the second most sensitive and kind, oblivious man she knew (the first being Morgan). The moment he realized she was secretly drinking some weird serum, instead of rushing and ratting her out to Burrow, he looked the fact up and instead of spotting, like some ill-intentioned person would have that she, Albus' cousin, had failed the test and would probably want to do something about it, he got worried about that silly accident Albus had some time before. If only he knew that Albus had just a small wound on the knee to remember the incident and absolutely no other injury… Rose wondered how he would react. Would he scream at her, propose a duel… or just look at her with his big, filled with emotions eyes and whisper something hurtful like 'I really trusted you…' at her?

Probably…

"Are you sure you're ok?" The same big eyes that she imagined angry at her send her a worried look. Unwillingly she nodded.

"Ok, then. Want to side-apparate?" He asked obviously uncomfortable. Actually Rose would have loved to apparate next to such an impressive and handsome person but her cousin's words rang in her ears. 'Rose a guy doesn't side-apparate with just anyone. It has to be either a child, an injured person or his girlfriend.' In her head she processed this, mature hotness was definitely not a child, he was not hurt anywhere and –ehem- surely not her cousin's girlfriend.

"I'm ok. I can take care of myself." She tried to sound grumpy and proud and it came out nicer than she would have expected. Alderton rolled his eyes, hid a smirk and disappeared first.

Rose looked around at the familiar corridor. She was back to the Auror Department, safe and sound, still disguised as Albus and just a big, purple-black bruise just over the chest to prove she had actually been in an accident.

Somehow it felt good. She was worried and angry and puzzled at the whole situation and she was seriously considering putting Malfoy in the loony bin but at least she had not been exposed- or died…

Whatever reason Malfoy had for attacking her –if he had any- she would have to face him and clear this up. The guy was no murderer… probably. If she spoke calmly to him and offered that long awaited truce, if she apologized or in the worst case forfeited about the Striker's position, surely he would accept some sort of peace deal. Right?

With that thought in mind she was about to make a turn and head to her room.

"I mean honestly Malfoy I did not see that coming." She heard someone speak from very close to her. It was not like the person said something suspicious or anything but Rose would rather not interrupt Malfoy's conversation.

"Why don't you just go die McFusty?" Oh yeah, thought Rose, that was definitely Malfoy. And the fact that McFusty, the same guy who a few days ago had caused such a commotion in order to avoid talking to Malfoy was now initiating a talk made Rose keep her distance.

"Come on Malfoy, don't be that way. I came to congratulate you actually." McFusty's drenched laugh echoed all around the corridor.

"Whatever for?" Rose could actually picture the face the blonde was making at that moment. The bored way his eyebrow would rise and the twitch his mouth was doing when he spat those few words.

"Well, you know… for what you did earlier today." Malfoy didn't reply to that, either because he didn't understand what was being implied or because he understood a little too well.

"I mean you gave that little douche, Potter, a ride for his money!" Rose's eyes opened wide. Suddenly she understood as well. He was talking about that incident.

"And what a hit! For a moment I really thought you had off-ed the bastard." McFusty seemed to be enjoying this enormously, to her utmost disdain.

"What are you talking about?" Malfoy finally said. But it was not the kind of question you make because you don't know the answer. To the redhead it sounded like the kind of question you use as a request for the other party to say no more.

"Relax Malfoy no one's here." McFusty assured. "Plus I didn't come to fight with you. I just wanted to say 'good job' for making that idiot pee on his pants." 'That guy' or actually 'that girl' crossed her arms in front of her chest indignantly. There was no way she would ever pee on her pants!

"If you don't want to pick a fight with me don't talk to me." Rose, despite her frustration, rolled her eyes at Malfoy's comment. He really never backed down.

"Ok, ok!" The other guy raised his hands in mock surrender. "But seriously, I am impressed. You gave him a lesson to remember. He'll never dare to talk back at you again."

At that Rose made up her mind to show both McFusty and Malfoy just how capable she was to 'talk back' to the blond even after his ridiculous attempt to scare her. She stepped from her corner and turned in the corridor the two trainees were having their supposedly private talk.

The first thing she saw was McFusty's back, arrogant and insufferable like his character. And behind it Mafloy, standing there nonchalantly, with his black pants falling freely over his boots, his blue shirt slightly unbuttoned and his hair curling artistically at the ends he looked like a model in a photo shoot. Rose sent a deadly glare at the floor just to avoid staring at his silver eyes. His dark blonde eyebrow was still raised, she noted, and more importantly –most shockingly to her- his mouth was forming a satisfied smirk while McFusty spoke again.

"That was really well-planned. That brainless git deserved it." The man that was turning his back at her said cruelly but all she could notice was that victorious smirk which could only mean one thing; Malfoy too was more than happy about his actions that day.

Suddenly she felt less than ready to face the blonde. His little smirk got stuck in her throat and forced her to stop breathing. On their own accord her eyes lost the floor and found his.

He was unprepared for the intrusion. He had looked up and without wanting to had found her in front of him, like a natural obstacle, impossible to overcome. His mocking expression faded in the usual blank look.

He should have gulped in agony, he should have looked away in shame and at least appear apologetic.

Instead, when he saw her staring at him disappointed, he turned his gaze back to McFusty and shrugged.

"Yeah, he did." He agreed.

A/N: So here we have a very distraught Rose and a very unpredictable reaction from Scorpius… or maybe not.

Please tell me what you think about each person's reaction!

I'd really love to hear your opinions.

Thanks tons for reading and hopefully reviewing.

Lots of love,

Sarah