Disclaimer: Ok, ok, I'll say it: I do not own 'Harry Potter'. There; you made me cry. I hope you're happy.

When a rather soaked and upset Rose re-entered the castle, the first thing she saw was Albus being reprimanded by Professor Sinistra, with James by his side, looking as though he was trying not to laugh. If Rose was suspicious as to something worrying had happened then, it was nothing as to when James caught sight of her and then doubled up laughing.

Blushing furiously, she passed Greta Montague, who was watching the scene with a strange expression on her face.

'Greta?' she asked nervously, wishing there was someone else she knew about so she wouldn't be forced to ask someone who disliked her so readily.

'Oh, it's you,' Greta said, eyeing her with distrust, 'I can't believe you caused this much trouble within a week of entering the castle,' she gestured to the two Potters, both who were now being yelled at. She struggled to hear what the professor was saying.

'- You may think it's funny, Potter, but I can assure you-'

'Me?' Rose frowned. 'I caused that?'

Greta rolled her eyes.

'What even happened?'

'Your cousin,' she said dramatically, 'punched my cousin in the face.'

'Your cousin?' Rose stared at her, 'Wait, Greta, you mean he hit Scorpius?'

'Obviously,' she nodded, appearing bored.

'Oh, hell,' she exclaimed, 'where is he?'

Greta raised her eyebrows. 'Hospital-wing. I presume.'

Rose looked over at the two brothers and then glanced up the stairs, torn between the desires of going over and kicking her cousin and going to apologise to Scorpius.

Scorpius won. Racing up flights of stairs the shock wore off a little bit, enough to let Rose become entirely consumed by anger. This had gone way too far and she almost wished that she had never gone to Hogwarts in the first place.

'Scorpius,' she gasped, out of breath, once she reached him. His eyes widened for a split second when he saw her.

He was perched on the edge of a bed, looking, although extremely agitated and even paler than usual, perfectly unharmed.

'Hello, Rose.'

'I can't believe that James punched you! Why would he do that? You're younger than him!'

'James didn't punch me,' he frowned.

'But Greta said …' Rose trailed off, still staring nervously at Scorpius.

'What Greta says is usually complete and utter rubbish.'

'But Scorpius,' she persisted, her eyes looking him up and down as though looking for some sort of injury, 'if James didn't punch you, then why the hell are you here?'

Scorpius watched her, appearing reluctant to tell her what happened.

She noticed.

'I'll find out eventually, you know.'

'I know. I just also happen to know that you won't like it one bit. And I'm a little scared as to how you'll react.'

'Just say it.'

'I – all right, then. Albus punched me, not James.'

She heard the words but she did not comprehend them.

'Look, Rose, I don't think that he -' Scorpius frowned at her. 'Rose!' he said sharply.

'What?' she said, jumping.

'I'm sure he regretted it right afterwards, he seemed very –'

'He'll regret it,' she said quietly, sitting down beside him. 'Albus. Damn him.'

'Who'd have thought it?' Scorpius sighed, 'I know, right?'

'Scorpius, you know the way you said you sometimes just hate your family? Right now I'm kind of thinking … I might be better off without them at all.'

'That's not right. Rose, I hope you're not going to hold a grudge against him or come up with some vendetta –'

'He's the one who holds grudges and comes up with vendettas, obviously.'

Madam Pomfrey approached them with an unpleasant looking sort of cream in her hands.

'For you,' she said, handing it to Scorpius, 'twice a day, do not forget!'

He nodded.

'May I leave?'

She scrutinised him suspiciously.

'Oh, all right then.'

The two friends left quickly.

'Why did he punch you? Was it as soon as he saw you, Scorpius?' Rose bit her lip, wondering if her little confrontation with him had prompted this.

'No, he kept saying I had ruined your life.'

'Oh, no.'

'It was probably my fault, really,' he said, as they walked towards the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room. 'I shouldn't have laughed but I found him so damn hilarious I couldn't resist.'

'I want to strangle him. I actually have an over-whelming urge to go over to him and catch his throat in my two hands and throttle –'

'Rose!' Scorpius looked slightly alarmed. 'Look, I'm not the biggest fan of Albus right now but I don't see how choking him is going to solve anything.'

'It would make me feel better,' she protested and he grinned.

'Your cousin has a damn good punch, incidentally,' he commented as though talking about the weather. 'He broke my nose. That's pretty impressive. Don't worry,' he said, seeing her expression, 'It's been fixed completely.'

Rose groaned. 'James and Fred like to make him play beater.'

'Hmm. I wasn't expecting that much force from him; he always looked pretty small.' He looked at her sideways, 'He must really care about you.'

'No. We're not even talking anymore,' she said, shortly.

He raised his eyebrows, wondering when this new development had taken place, but did not bring it up.

'What does that have to do with anything?' was all he said.

***

Five days later Rose sat in the Hogwarts library during an unexpected free period, searching through a pile of books to see if anything could help with her charms essay. The subject was proving difficult and although Rose reckoned she would do tolerably casting the spell, the non-practical homework was a nightmare. Indeed, only the enticement of the fact that they would soon be able to levitate objects spurred the first years to work at all.

'Rose,' a voice said pleasantly.

Rose looked up in vague surprise at being disturbed. Then her face whitened in shock.

Molly Weasley was standing in front of her holding a brightly wrapped pink box. Fred Weasley stood a little behind her. Both were smiling at her warmly.

'Here, Rose, this is for you,' Molly said, pushing the pink parcel towards her. 'Happy birthday!'

Rose sat completely still as Molly hugged her tightly.

'Uh … thanks …' was all that she could manage.

'You're welcome!' Molly beamed. 'Well – go on! Open it!'

She clapped her hands eagerly and was rewarded by some violent shushing motions being made by the librarian.

Rose just stared at her.

'Rose, is there something the matter?'

'Yeah, Rosie, you look as though Dominique was making you listen to her singing again,' piped up Fred.

They both snickered. The rest of Dominique's cousins, much to her annoyance, had not shared the fifth year's high opinion of her own voice.

'I thought you were mad at me?' Rose asked, feeling stupider by the second.

'Mad at you? But why?' Molly asked with surprised eyes, brushing a wisp of red hair out of her face with the back of her hand.

'It's not your fault Albus went around beating up people,' Fred grinned, 'How is that kid he attacked, by the way?'

'Uh … fine.'

'Seriously though,' Molly continued, frowning, 'Why?'

'Well,' Rose somehow felt foolish in admitting it, now, 'I was under the impression you were less than thrilled when I was sorted into Ravenclaw.'

'Rosie, are you actually serious?' Molly hugged her again.

'Rose,' she corrected, half-heartedly.

'I was a little concerned, maybe, that you were in that house without any of us there to help you settle in,' Molly continued, 'But maybe I looked angry because I thought that you should have been in Gryffindor. You're a hell of a lot braver than me.'

'I really am not.'

'Yeah you are, Rose, you're just smarter than her too!' teased Fred.

'And you're not put out by my Ravenclawness, Fred?' she asked, hardly daring to believe he would say he wasn't.

'No, it was more of a relief, really, Rose, you see,' he said, earnestly. 'I was worried that I'd be stuck with you, annoying little know-it-all, in my house, so I was glad to see those smart-alec Ravenclaws take you.'

She laughed and shoved him gently.

'Well come on then,' Molly said, impatiently, 'enough of your silliness, open your present!'

'Wait,' she said. 'I want to ask you something.'

'Go on.'

'Dominique. Is she …' Rose trailed off, feeling she was pushing her luck.

'Pissed off at you?' Fred supplied sensitively, 'Well, yes, Rosie, but we're always pissed off at her because she's such an airhead. Ignore her. She's probably jealous that you were born with a brain.'

'Fred!' exclaimed Molly, 'Rose, Dominique's just takes unity and being proud of one's house one step too far. You know her. She'll come around.'

'Yeah …'

'Ignore her, Rose,' Fred said. 'That's what I do most of the time.'

'Fred,' she said, knowing that he would be able to tell her, 'is it the same for James? Does he love Gryffindor too much, as well?'

Fred hesitated; obviously the conversation was not going the way he had planned.

'Rose …' he paused and looked at her nervously, 'no. James does not mind that you are Ravenclaw.'

She frowned.

'Come on, Fred I can tell you're not being honest,' she said.

'No, I am. He cares about you too much to bother about which house you're in.'

'But …'

'I didn't want to tell you this. Just remember that he really does care about you, agreed?'

'If you say so. Go on.'

'He doesn't like the way you are with Scorpius Malfoy.'

It all came back to Scorpius, Rose realised, with her family. They were all stuck on the fact that she could be friend with a boy of such heritage.

'I can't believe him,' she said through gritted teeth. 'James is –'

'If that boy is as good a friend to you as he seems,' Molly interjected, 'James will come around eventually.'

'I hope you're right because he's acting like the biggest prat that ever existed at the moment,' she said. 'Apart from Albus, of course.'

Fred smiled. 'James is damn proud of Al for that punch he socked that Malfoy kid. I think Albus might have ended up punching James to shut him up from going on about it, actually. James will never admit to it, though!'

The girls rolled their eyes simultaneously.

Finally, Rose pulled the box towards her and tore off its pink glossy wrappings. A bottle of perfume lay within. Remembering her roommates' fondness for such scent-bottles, she took the bottle warily but thanked Molly warmly for it.

Fred produced a box full of wares from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, the shop of her Uncle George's that she loved so much.

They laughed and exchanged goodbyes.

'I hope you have an absolutely fantastic birthday, Rose,' exclaimed Molly cheerfully.

'I'm sure I'll enjoy it a hundred times better now I know you guys aren't angry.'

'Honestly, Rose, I don't know how you even thought we would be in the first place, coming from a family such as ours,' Molly shook her head as though Rose had been completely absurd.

Rose frowned. She thought that her Gryffindor family was a perfect explanation for all the hostility she had suffered recently.

'Oh, come on, Rose. Take my dad for instance. And then take Uncle George,' Molly said, nodding at Fred. 'You wouldn't think that they were brothers, would you?'

She thought of her Uncle Percy, who always wore dull grey formal robes and worked long hours at the Ministry of Magic, and then of her laughing, joking Uncle George, never seen in anything less bright than purple. The two were as opposite as it was possible to be.

'I guess my point is that everyone in our family is different so I see no reason for anyone to care that you're in Ravenclaw,' Molly continued, shrugging.

'Except for Dominique, of course,' volunteered Fred, cheerfully. 'But who cares about her? She would probably give you a hair-care potion for your birthday anyway. That's what I got.'

'Thanks Molly, thanks Fred,' Rose said, hugging them both tightly.

'… Or worse, your very own performance of her, ahem, singing, as she calls it, 'Happy Birthday' for you …' Fred continued, until he saw Madam Pince marching her way through the aisles towards them.

'Better scram,' he said, waving and the two of them ran from the elderly woman who looked fit to kill.

Rose felt like laughing out loud for the load they had taken off her mind, which surely, she thought contently, was the best present she had received all day. However she thought twice about making any noise at all when she caught the gleam in the librarian's beady eyes.

***

'Happy birthday, Rose,' Scorpius greeted her when she returned to the common room later that day.

'Thanks, Scorpius!' she said, sliding into the couch beside him.

He smiled and she saw he looked happier than she had ever seen him. She returned his grin, smiling sweetly at him.

'I got you something,' he said, handing her a small box.

'Wow, Scorpius, thanks! Now I feel bad because I didn't get you anything for your birthday.'

'Nah, we were a little preoccupied that day, remember? Besides you didn't know.'

'Oh yeah. You ended up in the Hospital wing, right? Still.'

'Just open it. You're making me nervous.'

She did. Inside was a golden chain with a beautiful amber stone set in it.

Rose gasped.

'Scorpius, it's so beautiful!'

'It matches your hair,' he murmured, tucking a strand of her auburn waves behind her ears.

'I love it!' she exclaimed, hugging him.

'That's good,' he muttered, emerging from her arms, a pinkish tinge visible on his pale face.

She laughed, happily.

'You're really happy today, Rose,' he said, grinning at her.

'I was talking to Molly and Fred,' she said. 'They aren't mad at all, they never were, I feel like such a fool! I love them so much, they made me feel so much better!'

'That's great,' he said, with a small smile. He didn't look so cheerful anymore.

'Help me put this on, Scorpius,' she said, handing him the necklace and turning away from him.

He did and his face lit up when he saw it on her.

'It really does match your hair,' he said, satisfied.

'So why are you in such a good mood today?'

He shrugged.

'Well, I couldn't find you, Rose, during that free period we had earlier so I went and looked for another way to amuse myself …'

'Oh dear. That doesn't sound good. What did you do?'

'Ran into Greta,' he grinned wickedly.

'What did you do?'

'Turned her hair green. But only after she said I deserved to be punched by Albus,' he said.

'Scorpius!'

'What? Her hair is a boring colour so I thought I'd liven it up a bit. It's Slytherin colour anyway, I've no idea why she's so upset.'

They sniggered.

'She said you deserved to be punched? Who would have thought she would have taken Al's side?'

'Hey, they've both been betrayed by their cousins who've had the gall to run off to Ravenclaw without them, after all!'

For the first time, the situation actually seemed funny to Rose and both of them began to giggle about their two upset cousins.

'You should have dyed Al's hair red. Red for Gryffindor. Then he would not only be a Gryffindor like the rest of his family but his hair would match most of them, too.'

She began to giggle at the thought of a redhead Albus.

'Rose,' a soft voice came from behind her.

Looking around, she saw Dragomir Krum.

'Hi, Dragomir,' she smiled warmly at him.

'I believe that birthday vishes are in order?'

'Thank you!'

'Now you are as old as me,' he smiled.

'Twelve. Finally.'

'That necklace looks nice.'

'Thanks, Scorpius gave it to me.'

He smiled briefly at the other boy.

'How's Quidditch?'

'It's good, very good. Our first match is against Hufflepuff, of course.'

She smiled brightly.

'I'm sure you'll do well. We'll be cheering for you,' she said, indicating herself and Scorpius, who nodded once.

'Thank you,' he said, giving her a broad smile, 'Vell, enjoy the rest of your day!'

'Goodbye,' she called and turned back to Scorpius, who looked just a little sullen now.

'You know Dragomir, right?' she said, 'Dragomir Krum.'

'Certainly, I know of him,' Scorpius said, eyes narrowing.

'What's up, Scorpius?'

'I just thought he seemed a bit … keen.'

'On what?' Rose asked, bewildered.

'On you,' Scorpius muttered, punching the tartan cushion that lay beside him.

'On me?' Rose asked, thinking of the dark-haired boy's smile with a new fascination. She didn't think he had been into her that way at all. She played absentmindedly with her hair.

Apparently, her reaction to this scandal less than pleased Scorpius, who was now scowling. She grinned at him reassuringly.

'Don't be silly Scorpius, he was just being friendly.'

'A little too friendly –'

'Goodness, Scorpius you sound like Albus talking about you,' she said, no longer smiling. 'He was convinced that I was in love with you or something. Look, I don't like Krum that way in the slightest. He's a friend is all. I barely know him, actually. We've spoken, like, twice.'

'A friend,' Scorpius said slowly. 'Like me?'

'Well, sure,' she shrugged, 'But you're my best friend in the whole entire world.'

He smiled at last.

'How on earth did I manage to land myself with that position?'

'Silly you. But now you're stuck with me!' she laughed, 'So what did Greta do when she realised her hair was green?'

'A luscious, bright green, I'll have you know!'

They spent the next hour, not working on the essay like they had planned, but plotting revenge on their various cousins, James, Albus, Dominique, Matilda and poor, unfortunate Greta.

A/n: I hope you liked the chapter!

I'll just say to keep in mind that Scorpius treasures his friendship with Rose and he can get a little protective of her.

Big thank you to all my reviewers, you guys are the best!

It's kind of late here so I'll leave it at that, I'm sleepy :P

Please review!