They were finally sitting down at their tables enjoying all the delicious food prepared by the house elves. Rose always ate too much on the first night, but she couldn't help it. It was all so good.

"Albus silly, don't play with your food, honestly." She said half laughing as he was swirling around his mashed potatoes.

"Oh come on Rose, have a little fun!" Albert said patting her on the back.

"Alright, alright." she said laughing a little. She then looked over to the Slytherin table and saw Scorpius having conversation with Zach Zambini and Tailia Patil. They seemed to be his best mates in Slytherin, but they didn't really talk to anyone outside their house. She turned her full attention to Scorpius now. He had changed slightly since last year. His hair was a little longer and he was taller and a little muscular. It was a little strange to her that he had changed, but it wasn't bad. The feast came to an end and the Gryffindor quidditch team decided to have a meeting afterwards. They all began walking towards the dormitory when Rose felt someone grab her arm. It was Scorpius with a wide grin on his face.

"Hi Rose!"

"Oh, hi there Scorpius!"

"I was wondering, since we couldn't talk on the train we could hang out for a while tonight. I could uh… tell you all about the quidditch cup!" he said nervously. She smiled at him.

"That sounds lovely! But unfortunately I can't. See, we have a mandatory quidditch meeting. Dumb I know, but my team is crazy about winning this year—" Right then they heard Albert's voice. "Come on Rose, we can't just have one chaser! Let's go!" Scorpius rolled his eyes.

"Sorry again Scorpius." She told him frowning beginning to walk away. Before Scorpius started towards the staircase, he saw Rose turn back around. "We'll hang out soon!" she bellowed smiling and waving. He was just happy they got to talk alone. After this, he decided to turn in early. He went up to his bed and fell asleep.

Sadly the next few weeks had been boring for Scorpius. He only got to see Albus and Rose during herbology class, with them practicing 24/7. And now even around his Slytherin friends he felt like an outcast. Zach and Tailia were a "couple" now so he always felt like a third wheel. They were so annoying together. One day, he got so tired of it that he ditched them and went to the library. He sat down with a book and began to read; which he loved to do but would never tell anyone. The library was quiet for a long time until,

"That's a good book you've got there." Scorpius nosed up from his book. It was Rose. He quickly sat up trying to look casual.

"Oh this? It's nothing. Kind of weird actually."

"Haha you're silly Scorpius." She told him giggling. He smirked a little.

"So no practice tonight, eh?" He asked her.

"No thank goodness, because I'm so tired. But we are getting better!"

"Well that's good!" He replied trying to sound enthusiastic.

"Quite good… listen, do you think you would want to study tonight for our herbology test?" This caught Scorpius off guard but he couldn't be happier.

"Uh…sure of course. I'd love to!" he said, barely able to keep in his excitement.

"Okay brilliant. We can meet here after dinner. And maybe talk...we haven't gotten to talk in a while. I've got some things to tell you." Scorpius began to get nervous.

"Sounds like a plan!" He assured her. The Rose hurried off. "Yes!" he thought to himself. He could hardly wait.

That night during dinner, Scorpius scarfed down his meal and left a little early. He went to the bathroom, looked in the mirror and fixed his hair (or attempted). After a few minutes he straightened his robes, took a deep breath, grabbed his books and headed to the library. Rose saw him as he walked in as she had gotten there early.

"Hi Rose! Ready to study?" He asked.

"I always am!" She replied.

Honestly, he didn't care about the studying, he just wanted to know what Rose had to tell him but he wasn't going to bring it up. They worked for about twenty minutes without any mention of it. Then he couldn't take it any longer.

"So Rose, what was it you needed to tell me?"

She stopped writing, let out an exhale, then looked up at him. "Alright. I guess I can't avoid it any longer." There was a slight shake of nervousness in her voice. "I came to you because you're my best friend Scorp and I trust you with anything. So if I ask you this, will you promise not to be weirded out?"

"Of course!" He just wanted her to get on with it already.

"Okay…" she took a deep breath "What do you do when you…like someone? I mean how do you tell them without messing up the friendship you may have?"

Scorpius' heartbeat was fast now. He could hear it himself, and his knees began to tremble.

"Scorpius? Did you hear me?"

He snapped out of it. "We—well…you know what I would do?" He swallowed hard. "I would look them straight in the eye and say…I like you. And well, I think the friendship would be fine because you never know how similarly they may feel."

"You really thing so Scorpius?" she asked him grinning ear to ear.

"Oh I do." He told her smiling back. His heart would surely beat out of his chest now. Then Rose jumped out of her seat and hugged him.

"You're absolutely right! I'm going to tell Albert exactly how I feel!"

In this instant, Scorpius felt like he had just been hit by a truck. Every ounce of happiness drowned out of him in a second. His mouth dropped to the ground.

"What! Finigan?" He was so confused.

"I know weird. But it's true, I like Albert." She was grinning so widely. "I know he was a right foul git before, but this summer, we really got to know each other and he's actually really sweet. You should get to know him, I bet you all would be good friends just like you and me. I have just been terrified to tell him and that's why I came to you. Thank you so much for your advice Scorpius! I owe you!" She waved goodbye to him and skipped delightfully out of sight.

Scorpius hadn't moved since Rose began talking. He just stood there and tried to process what he had just heard. He was beyond confused. Bloody hell! How does she like Finigan? He's a git! I was for sure she was talking about me! His blood was boiling. He gritted his teeth, slammed his books shut, and stomped upstairs.