I know that you all are probably sure I died, but I didn't! I've had a lot of trouble with this chapter, but I'm really happy with how it turned out, which makes it worth it for me. Enjoy!

When Rose arrived at the auror department her father disappeared to do some work which left her free to seek out Scorpius. She found him sorting case reports in one of the back rooms that was full wall to wall of filing cabinets all of which held case reports that Scorpius had spent the last four months reorganizing.

"Muffliato" she whispered pointing at the door as she entered. He turned around so fast at the sound of her voice that he nearly tripped.

"Rose!" he nearly shouted, and she was glad she'd cast the charm on the door. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at Hogwarts?"

"I just got back," she said breathlessly, "You start next week, right?"

"Yeah," he said gloomily, before walking over to her, "But let's not talk about that right now. How did you get here?"

"My dad," she explained, "But he'll be looking for me any minute, so we don't have much time."

"Okay, so first thing's first," he said, and he kissed her. "Now that that's out of the way, what are we going to do?"

"I think," said Rose, "If we make it through the summer we'll be okay. We can date secretly until we're out of Hogwarts, because obviously telling our parents is out of the question, and then we can go away together."

"It's not a full-proof plan," said Scorpius, "And summers will be miserable, but it's our only option."

"Rose!" came Ron's voice from out in the office, "Where are you?"

"I have to go," she said urgently, "Before he finds us here." They kissed again, a desperate, longing kiss, "I'll see you on September 1st."

"I'll write," he promised, "Every day if you want."

"ROSE!" came Ron's voice again.

Rose smiled, "I'd love it if you did, but of course you won't. I miss you already," she kissed him again, before darting out of the room, leaving Scorpius to his filing.

Rose spent the summer at the Burrow as usual, trying to fend off nosy questions from her relatives, which, since she had so many, was turning out to be a full time job. Her family members were used to Rose being the way that Ginny had been at that age, always with a guy, and having about 5 more following her around even though she was taken. They were all shocked to hear that she hadn't been in a relationship since she'd broken up with Steven, and they were all pestering her to try going out with him again, convinced that the reason she hadn't dated anyone knew was that she still liked him. One day in mid-July Neville came the Burrow for lunch, and Rose was able to catch him as he was leaving.

"Uncle Neville?" she called. He had just closed the gate and was about to disapperate.

"Yes?" he asked, turning around.

"I have a problem, but," she looked around, "We can't talk about it here. You wanna go for a walk?"

"Sure," he replied, intrigued. He'd only been able to ask about Scorpius once, so he was curious as to what she would tell him, for he was sure that the only problem she couldn't tell anyone in her family about was Malfoy related.

Rose explained the entire situation to him on their walk, and described how her family, especially James, wouldn't let her alone, ending with a desperate, "WHAT DO I DO?"

"Well," he said thoughtfully, "I'm sure they've seen Scorpius' owl delivering letters a few times, so invent a boyfriend."

"But who could I invent that they wouldn't know?" she asked.

"It was just the Tri-Wizard Tournament, wasn't it? Just pick a Durmstrang boy...aren't you friends with any?"

"Well, there is one I'm friends with, Dragomir Krum. You know, his dad used to be a famous Quidditch player, and Mum dated him."

Neville burst out laughing, and between chuckles he managed to get out, "Your father's going to have a fit!"

Rose, however, was following her own train of thought and said, getting more and more excited with every word she spoke, "Yeah...that's what I'll do. I'll tell them that I was keeping it a secret cause I thought Dad wouldn't like it, and then they'll get off my back. I'll owl Scorpius with the plan, so he doesn't hear about it and think I actually am dating Dragomir, and then I'll owl Dragomir and ask him to cover for me if any of my family members check. A long distance relationship is a perfect cover! I could use it for years if I have to! Thanks Uncle Neville! You're the best!" And with a kiss on the cheek she ran back towards the Burrow to put her plan into action, leaving Neville still laughing.

When Rose and Scorpius returned to school on September first no one had any reason to suspect anything. They road in separate compartments, and when they did meet they each wore a look of disdain and loathing. It was only when Rose tried to pull Scorpius aside that she realized that he meant it.

"Hey," she whispered, walking over to him as he walked up the marble staircase, "Meet me outside at 10:00, okay?"

"What about Dragomir?" he asked, uttering the name like a curse word. Rose looked confused.

Scorpius pulled her into a hidden tapestry and muttered, "Muffliato" at it before continuing, "Don't you think he'd mind if you went out with me?"

"Scorpius, what are you talking about?" asked Rose, "You know Dragomir is just a cover!"

"I never heard about it," he said irritably, "Good idea though, stringing me along when you've got another guy waiting on the sidelines. Maybe I should try it?"

"Scorpius!" she said, slightly confused, "What do you mean you never heard about it? I sent you a letter about it in July!"

"Yeah, sure," he said sarcastically, "And what, it got lost in the mail? Yeah right," he rolled his eyes derisively.

"That can't have happened," she whispered more to herself, "Because Rowan came back...Someone else must have taken it!" she said loudly, "Who was at the manor in July?"

"Just my grandparents, my mum and dad, and Peter," he said defensively, "Are you really going to try to label them as thieves?"

"Well if the shoe fits," she said challengingly.

"I don't have to deal with this," he said furiously, and without another word he tore back the tapestry and stormed away.

As the tapestry fell into place Rose sank to the ground, leaning against the wall with her knees pulled up to her chest, sobbing. She'd risked everything, everything, for him, and what had he risked? Nothing! Not one damn thing! He could just walk away without hindering his conscious, but Rose still had to face hers! Everything she'd done, regardless of her family and friends, had been for him, and now...he was gone. She felt empty and ashamed at the way she'd behaved. Clarice had been right all along, and Rose hadn't seen it.

She cried for a long while before she stood up and left. She didn't want to go back to the common room and face her relatives, so she decided to go out to the grounds.

Scorpius stormed up to his dormitory, fuming. When he arrived he was glad to see he was alone. He was so angry at himself for not being able to see it before...He felt used, but what else could he have expected from a Weasley? He'd heard about her long-distance relationship on the train, and it'd torn him in two, and then after the row they just had he wanted nothing more than to sink into the floor and disappear forever.

He sat down on his bed and gazed around the room, when something caught his eye. And folded piece of parchment with Rose's handwriting on the front was on a bedside across the room. He walked over and picked it up, hardly aware of what he was doing. The outside said, in Rose's neat script: To Scorpius Malfoy, Malfoy Mannor

He unfolded the parchment, which was no longer sealed, and read:

Dear Scorpius,

I came up with a solution to our problem with my family. My friend from Durmstrang, Dragomir Krum, would be the perfect cover for why I'm not dating! A long distance relationship would cover us for years if it needed to, and we could find the right time to tell our families whenever! It's brilliant! I'm off to write to him now. I'm sure he'll cover for us!

See you in 44 days!

Love,

Rose

He crumpled the letter into a tiny ball with his fist, and stared at the bedside table where it'd come from: Peter. Just then, the door to the dormitory opened and Peter entered.

"What's up?" he asked, sitting down on his bed.

"What's this?" said Scorpius, holding up his fist.

"Dunno," said Peter, taking the letter and un-crumpling it. As he read his face grew pale, "You weren't supposed to see this," he said.

"So I gather," spat Scorpius venomously, "How long have you known?"

"I figured it out during the summer, and I'd read a couple of the letters. When this one arrived I was gonna read it and re-seal it, but when I saw what it said I kept it, cause it was gonna make my life a whole lot easier, wasn't it?"

"Meaning?" asked Scorpius, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I was gonna have to confront you about this, wasn't I? Once I got this I knew I wouldn't need to. You'd find out about Dragomir and dump Rose, and that'd be that. You'd have never had to know I'd interfered and then we'd be rid of her."

Scorpius gaped at him for a moment, before muttering, "Son of a bitch," and storming from the room. He ran down the corridor, through the common room, and up the stairs into the Great Hall. He sprinted up all seven flights of stairs, only to find himself standing by the Fat Lady's Portrait with no idea how to get it. As it opened he hid around the corner and saw Hugo and Albus walk out, talking.

"I wonder where she's got to," Albus was saying, "You don't think she'd have gone outside, do you?"

"Are you crazy?" asked Hugo, "It's pouring!"

"Well, knowing Rose, she'd say it was romantic," said Al before they headed off down the corridor, "But I suppose we'd better start with the library.

Scorpius sprinted off in the other direction and back down the stairs, because he knew exactly where she'd have gone. He opened up the oak front doors (he was lucky, it wasn't quite curfew for fifth years), and ran out into the rain, barely noticing it. He reached the lake and saw a solitary figure bobbing along in the water, her face turned to the sky.

His heart sped up.

So, again, I'm SO SO SO SO SO SORRY that this took so long! I know for sure the next one will take WAY less time!

XOXO

GossipGirlHere