A/N: Wow I am sooooooo sorry! I kinda got busy with school starting and forgot to update this, and I kinda got unmotivated as well. From now on, I promise I am gonna do my best to be consistent with this story. Thanks for putting up with me for this long if you're still here, your support means the world! Okayyyyy enough talking and once again I'm sorry!

"Hey," Rose said gently, carefully sitting next to him and giving him a quick supportive hug. Scorpius sat down next to Rose. "So… what happened, if you're ready to talk about it?"

"She hates me, which I expected. She is mad at me and she hates me. I told her I just don't feel as connected to her as she feels to me and she deserves someone who loves her. She got upset and she hates me," Albus explained. His voice got quieter and quieter as he continued to speak.

"It's okay, Al. She might come around, and if she doesn't, she isn't worth it." Rose wasn't sure what else to say, so she just sat there with her arms around her cousin protectively.

"But she might be mad at you and you two have been friends for years."

"I don't care. If she really ends her friendships just because you guys aren't dating anymore, she isn't worth it, but you're always worth it to me. You're my cousin. We have been best friends for longer than I can remember. That's priceless to me," said Rose, hugging him tighter before letting him go.

"Rose is right. Abby will come around if her friendship is worth it," Scorpius said.

"I guess you guys are right. I can't believe I have friends like you guys. Well, I'm gonna go rest before the party tonight, because I have a lot to think about before then and if I'm not myself, everyone will start asking questions. See ya," said Albus, who got up and walked upstairs to his dorm.

"I hope he's okay, I hate seeing him like this, I wish there was something I could do, I-"

"Rosie. I know you care, but he will be okay. He needs time to himself right now, and we've done what we can, and he's okay. Of course this is a lot for him. He came out and broke up with his girlfriend all in one day. He needs this time to himself. If he needs you, he'll come back to you," said Scorpius, wrapping his arm around Rose.

"I know, but-"

"Come on, no buts. This has been a long day for all of us, with the whole Myla ordeal and now this… let's go relax at the library or something. We can go read quietly or something. Or we could go somewhere else. Whatever you want," said Scorpius. "Because you need to just stop worrying too much. I want you to be happy."

"I'm not worrying too much!" Rose said defensively, crossing her arms and squiggling out of Scorpius's arm that was holding her.

"Don't be like that, Rosie. I love you," Scorpius said with a sheepish smile, and she turned around to look at him.

"I love you too, but I'm not uptight and I don't worry too much…Or maybe I do, I don't know..." Rose's eyes glittered with tears and she looked down at her shoes. "And I'm overly sensitive. I'm sorry, now I'm being all dramatic. I just… I wish I was more of a fun person to be around. I'm always upset or worried or stressed or busy studying. It's so annoying."

"Follow me," Scorpius said, taking her hand and practically dragging her to their spot by the lake. He then sat down and signaled for her to sit next to him.

"What are we doing here?" asked Rose.

"We can be alone here. Are you cold?"

"A little, but-" Scorpius took his robe off of his arms and wrapped it around Rose.

"Now you're going to be cold," said Rose with a giggle. "You can have it back."

"I'm fine. Now, about what you said in the common room. You aren't overly sensitive and you are a fun person to be around and I love you so much that I don't know what to do about it. And you most definitely are not annoying. And you do worry too much, but I'm not trying to make you feel awful when I say that. I just want you to be happy. I don't want you to be all upset about something that you don't need to be upset about because I hate seeing you upset. Now stop doubting yourself all the time. I wish you saw yourself the way everyone else sees you," Scorpius said.

Before she could respond, Scorpius pressed his lips against Rose's, and she kissed him back. She wrapped her arms around him and she was soon on top of him on the ground right by the lake. After a few seconds, her tongue was in his mouth, and she grasped him tighter, not being able to get close enough to his body. They stayed there like that for what felt like forever. A couple of minutes passed before they finally pulled away.

"You are so damn sexy and I love everything about you and I love you so much that I can't take it," Rose whispered to him in one breath, still on top of him.

"How someone as perfect as you could ever love me will always be a mystery in my mind," Scorpius whispered back, smiling warmly as he looked into the eyes of his girlfriend. She slowly crawled off of him and fixed her robe, handing him his back.

"I don't want you to be cold. And me, perfect? You're practically the sexiest boy in this school and most boys who are sexy here are assholes but you are the sweetest person here," Rose said.

They sat there outside talking for a while until it was time for the Gryffindor Quidditch party. They headed back to the common room to see almost every Gryffindor there. There was also a Ravenclaw that Rose recognized as Lysander Scamander, who was obviously let in by his twin brother Lorcan. They were both in the same year as Rose, and she knew them to be really nice. Their mother was a good friend of her parents. She also saw a few Hufflepuffs lurking around. However, she remembered who she was looking for and scanned the room for Albus. When she saw him, she quickly walked over and sat next to him. He had a glass of butterbeer in hand, and she rolled her eyes. There was no doubt that he snuck off to Hogsmeade with Fred (a cousin of theirs who was in 7th year) and James.

"Hey Albus, how are you feeling?" The knots in Rose's stomach quickly untied when he turned to her with a very genuine smile.

"I honestly feel a lot better after James and Fred convinced me to sneak off to Hogsmeade," said Albus, still grinning. "Even though Roxanne yelled at us when we returned." Rose giggled. Roxanne was Fred's little sister who was in her 6th year.

"You kinda deserved it. Anyway, why are there other houses here?" asked Rose, glancing at Lysander and the Hufflepuff students. Albus shrugged.

"Everyone is happy we beat Slytherin. Lorcan asked me if he could bring Lysander on behalf of you since I am your cousin-"

"And you think I would have said yes?" Rose rolled her eyes.

"No, but Lorcan and Lysander are my friends and I am not a killer of fun like you are. And other people saw Lysander and got mad, so I let them bring friends too," said Albus sheepishly.

"You're such an idiot. You're lucky I like you so much," Rose said with another eye roll.

"Whatever, Rosie. I'm gonna go talk to Lorcan…" Rose watched as Albus walked away to go chat with him. She thought it was a bit strange because while Lorcan was a Gryffindor beater, she never thought they were close, but she just shrugged it off.

"All that snogging and then we come inside and you don't even say goodbye?" Rose heard a familiar voice teasing her and she turned around and giggled embarrassedly.

"I'm sorry, babe," Rose said, extra emphasis on the last word. They had never used nicknames for each other, besides Scorpius calling her Rosie. They liked each other enough for it, but it had never come up. Scorpius looked at her in the eyes for a few seconds. "If you don't like it-" Scorpius responded by giving her a quick peck on the lips.

"I love the way it sounds when you call me that," he whispered, smiling.

"Good."

The rest of the night, Rose used the party as an opportunity to relax after the long day she had. She remembered she probably couldn't hang out with Scorpius tomorrow because he had a detention. She would have to postpone their study session for another day. She wanted to do some homework the next day, but she resolved to save a little bit so she could study with Scorpius the next day. Either way, she made sure to spend lots of time with him at the party since she wouldn't see him outside of class much the next day. However, she was also making sure to keep an eye on Albus. She noticed he spent most of the night with Lorcan and Lysander, and he was especially happy to chat with Lorcan.

Once it had gotten too late for Rose, she went to bed. She was always more of a morning person than a night owl, much to Scorpius's disappointment. However, he went off to hang out with Albus and Lorcan after giving Rose a small goodnight kiss.

Before she went to bed, she wrote a letter to her parents.

Dear mum and dad,

It's Rosie! I miss you guys so much! There's actually been something I have been wanting to tell you, and I am kind of nervous, but I am not ashamed or what I am gonna tell you. A little over a month ago, I found out that the Gryffindor prefect in our year was a young man named Scorpius Malfoy. He was pleasant and because of our circumstances, we became friends. However, we kind of developed a lot of feelings for each other, and we have now been dating for about a month. I know Draco Malfoy was not best friends with you guys in school, to put it nicely. He was rude and mean and cruel. However, Scorpius is not like that at all. He is gentle and passionate and honest and brilliantly smart and I love him. I understand that this may be a bit shocking to you, and I don't mind if you need time to get used to it, but I really hope you can understand how I feel. I am being very careful and I can take care of myself if anything happens, but honestly, Scorpius wouldn't hurt a fly. His parents have changed too. He told me. Maybe our families can meet over Christmas break.

Much love,

Rosie

Rose promised herself that she would send the owl first thing in the morning as she got ready for bed and fell asleep.