Disclaimer: The ownership of the Harry Potter series lies solely with JKR.

So I just need to clarify a few things about the ages of a few supporting characters:

Lorcan and Lysander Scamander and Roxanne are in the same year as Rose.

-Augusta Longbottom, Cecil Davies, Dominique, James and Fred are in the year above Rose.

-Hugo and Lily are two years below Rose.

Also, I want to thank you all very, very much for the lovely reviews and constructive criticism. I'll try my best in taking your thoughts into consideration and not letting you down. You guys seriously rock!

The last chapter, I agree, was an all-time short one. The major reason was such a silly one that even thinking about it makes me *blush* *turn beetroot red*. I hope that it won't happen again.

This is a Rose POV.

So, yeah, that's it and I hope you enjoy!

Out-Of-Bounds( A Scorpius/Rose FanFiction)

Chapter 10: The Forbidden Forest

Four. Years. Rose Weasley had spent four years at Hogwarts without breaking any school rules, without getting into detention even once, thus setting a fine example for generations of Weasleys to come. And now, all of the effort she had put in taking after her mother had been splashed with Stinksap just because she had tried to keep her cousin and a Prefect from breaking rules. What would Professor Longbottom think of her? Would her chances of becoming Head Girl be sabotaged? And above all, what would her mother say?

'This is all your fault, Albus Severus!' she muttered angrily as Albus, Scorpius and she followed Patch down the shifting staircases. 'Oh no it isn't!' whispered Albus, equally angrily. 'It is your fault. I didn't tell you to stop me from breaking rules. You've got not only yourself, but also me and Scorp into trouble!'

'I was just trying to look out for you!' mumbled Rose furiously. ' Well, don't!' muttered Albus.

'Oh shut up both of you!' whispered Scorpius in an annoyed voice. Rose didn't know why, but his speaking annoyed her even more. 'Oh you,' she said in a dangerous voice.' Aren't you a Prefect? At least you could've stopped Alb--'

'I have no energy to tolerate your heap of dragon dung.' whispered Scorpius, cutting across her in a cold voice.' Just keep quiet.' Rose flushed deeply and a deadly silence ensued, disturbed only by the gleeful caretaker's stagger, and the three students' nervous footsteps.

When they reached the First Floor, Patch knocked on Professor Longbottom's office door, a horrible grin on her despicable face, and a minute later the bronze door opened to reveal the round and mature face of Neville Longbottom, positively surprised. His eyes travelled from Patch to Rose to Scorpius to Albus, and he frowned slightly. 'Ms.Patch!' he exclaimed. 'How may I help you?'

'Professor, Neckly and I have just found these three--' ( she pointed a stubby finger at the three guilty faces)'--lurking past curfew in the Fourth Floor Corridor.'

Professor Longbottom looked scandalised for a few seconds. Rose could feel his "explain yourself" gaze burning through her head, and stared shamefully at her shoes. At long last, he cleared his throat and said, 'It would be of great help, Ms. Patch, if you would kindly lead Mr.Potter and Mr.Malfoy to Professor Mulier's office, as she is Head of Slytherin House.'

Patch nodded and went away, Scorpius and Albus following her.

'Come in, Rose.' said Professor Longbottom gravely. Rose stepped inside the warm and comfortable office, not daring to meet his eyes, scared of the dismay she might see in them. Professor Longbottom sank into a comfy armchair by the side of plant Rose recognized as Mimbulus Mimbletonia. 'Explain yourself.' he said grimly.

Rose could have given up her Prefect's Badge and her racing broom to be able to evaporate on the spot. Or just Disapparate. But as she could do neither, she started telling her Head of House about how she had heard Albus at Breakfast, and how all she wanted to do was stop him from breaking rules.

A long, dreadful silence, and then --

'I am very disappointed in you, Rose.' said Professor Longbottom, sighing heavily. He had not shouted; in fact, his tone was just as it always was-- cool and composed. But the heavy disappointment in them was even worse than angry, loud words. Rose couldn't speak.

'Even if you intended to stop Albus from breaking rules, you had no right whatsoever to break them yourself. That's a lesson I learnt in my First Year from my Head of House.' he continued. Rose nodded timidly. Of coushe knew very well how back in her parents' First Year, Neville had tried to stop her mother and Uncle Harry from breaking rules, ending up in detention himself.

'I'm afraid you will have to bear the consequences.' he said coolly. ' Thirty points will be taken from Gryffindor. You will also get detention with Albus and Scorpius. Am I understood?' Rose nodded again. She had got what she deserved.

' Right.' he said briskly.' Now you can get back to your dormitory. Good night, Rose.' 'Good night Professor.' said Rose in a small voice, walking out of the office with her head hung low.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

' Hey, don't worry...Aunt Hermione won't send you a Howler.' said Fred, patting Rose on her shoulder. She shrugged miserably and buried her forehead in her hands again.

'You're overreacting.' said Roxy, flopping down on a nearby couch. 'Roxy's right, Rosie.' added Dominique, patting her blonde locks dramatically. Somewhere nearby, a group of Fourth Year boys was goggling at her. 'So would you if had never ever got detention all your school life.' snapped Rose.

Just then there was a diversion in the form of James, who walked in through the portrait hole, looking disgruntled. He flung a small piece of parchment at Rose. 'From Professor Longbottom.'

Rose opened the roll of parchment with trembling hands. It read as follows:

Your detention will take place this evening at 10 O' Clock. Please meet Ms.Patch in the Entrance Hall.

Professor Longbottom.

Sighing gloomily, she looked up from the parchment to see Fred frowning at James. 'What's up with you?' he asked, but James only scowled and looked away.

'Maybe he's arguing with Augusta!' Hugo whispered in Lily's ear, who nodded in agreement. 'I heard that!' barked James, his scowl growning darker. Rose shook her head ruefully, and resumed her Defence Against the Dark Arts essay, although the progress she made in the hours till 10 was questionable.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rose checked her watch. Five minutes to ten. A moment later, Albus entered the Great Hall a little breathlessly, followed closely by Scorpius, haughty and proud, and the sneering figure of Patch, Nekly circling her heels.

'All three in here? Very good.' sneered Patch. 'Now follow me.' Rose, along with Albus and Scorpius, stared straight ahead and followed the caretaker out of the Great Hall. Rose recognized the way at once as the path to Hagrid's hut, and sure enough, after some time, the cosy cabin, blocked mostly by the massive figure of Professor Rubeus Hagrid , was visible. When the four of them were near enough to him, he nodded solemnly at them and said, 'Thank yeh, Patch. I'll take them from here.' Patch grinned nastily and prowled away, Neckly meowing after her.

Rose couldn't bring herself to lock eyes with Hagrid; she felt ashamed of the fact that even Hagrid, who considered her one of his best Care of Magical Creatures student of her year, now knew about her rule-breaking from the previous night. Out of the corner of her blue eyes, she could see Albus going through a similar internal struggle, as he too, like her, was looking determinedly anywhere but at Hagrid. To her surprise, Scorpius cleared his throat coolly and said, ' So what do we have to do, Professor Hagrid?'

How can he act so coolly after getting into detention? Rose wondered wildly. , Ah well, he's a Malfoy, so shamelessness must be an old family gene.

'Ah yes,' said Hagrid. ' Listen carefully, all three of yeh. We got some escaped Keterels I bin savin' fer the Fourth Years' next lesson. All yeh three gotta do is catch as many as yeh can, or the ruddy creatures will reck the whole place.'

'Where will we start looking for them, Hagrid?' asked Rose timidly. ' Edge o' the Forbidden Forest. Two of yeh can take Fang, and the other can stay with me.' Before Rose could automatically move towards Albus, the latter took a massive step towards the half-giant, declaring in a panicky voice, 'I'm going with Hagrid.' Damn it, thought Rose, I keep forgetting he's not in Gryffindor.

'Alrigh' then, that leaves Rose and Scorpius with Fang.' said Hagrid. 'Now if there is any problem, I want yeh both to send red sparks in the air. Go on. And no' too deep inter the forest! ' Scorpius nodded, and Rose noticed that that his jaw was scarily tight. Fang the boarhound fell into step beside Rose and the three trotted off towards the edge of the Forbidden Forest. 'Lumos.' they both whispered almost together, caught each other's eye and looked away quickly.

The trio reached the edge of the thick, dark Forbidden Forest, the eerie rustle of its leaves and spooky sounds of its many mysterious magical creatures sending chills down Rose's spine. She gripped her wand even more tightly and nervously glanced at the grey-eyed blonde beside her. The fact that not a word had been exchanged between them since Hagrid's instructions made the atmosphere even scarier.

The expression on Scorpius' face was no less unnerving. His jaw was so tight that Rose was afraid his teeth might break at any moment. Was he still mad at her for smacking him? As soon as she had thought this, Rose inwardly slapped himself. He had it coming, she told herself firmly. He got what he deserved and I was absolutely right.

Just then, there was a significant disturbance in the undergrowth close to the spot where Scorpius, Fang and she were standing. 'Revelio.' whispered Rose , pointing her wand directly at the undergrowth. Nothing happened.

'Well that was dramatic.' jeered Scorpius sarcastically.

Ignoring him completely, Rose cautiously edged towards the undergrowth and whistled loudly. There was a sharp intake of breath from Scorpius as an undersized fox-like creature timidly emerged from the bushes. It had a black coat, shiny like that of a Golden Retriever, dog-like warm eyes and a white tail and paws. Fang barked loudly.

'How'd you know that there was a Keterel in there?' asked Scorpius quietly. 'Tut, tut, weren't you paying attention in Care of Magical Creatures?' asked Rose, raising her eyebrows coldly. Scorpius clenched his fists.

Rose laughed shrilly. 'When there was a rustle in the bushes and my Revelio charm did not work,' she said in a lofty, un-Rose-ish way, 'I knew at once that there was a Keterel in there, as Keterels have powers that can make them undetectable even under the influence of the Revelio charm. They are attracted by the woman's whistle, as I just showed you. '

Scorpius mumbled something which sounded like, 'I was ill during that lesson. ' Rose tossed her red hair in her characteristic manner, and resumed walking around the place, constantly whistling.

Keterels emerged from all sides, shyly sniffing at Fang and immediately withdrawing, forming a sort of tight circle of Keterels. Out of the corner of her eye, Rose could see Scorpius looking distinctly displeased, and that, including the fact that she had at least beat him at something, brought her immense satisfaction.

Suddenly, he stopped. 'Hagrid told us to not go too deep the Forest. ' he said flatly. 'Besides, we've got enough Keterels for one lesson. ' Rose folded her arms and said, rather snobbishly, ' Oh of course! I keep forgetting that you're in the most cowardly, wretched House of Hogwarts! '

'Not a word against the great House of Salazar Slytherin! ' growled Scorpius, edging dangerously close. Trying her best to not get intimidated by his strong, athletic build, Rose whispered, 'The truth's always bitter, Malfoy. You go back with the Keterels if you want to. I won--'

'Oh I forgot about you holier-than-thou Gryffindors--' He stopped dead, his face growing pale-- a feat quite remarkable judging by the Malfoys' pale face standards.

Then, many things happened at once. Scorpius pushed aside Rose forcefully and cried, 'Impedimita! ' At the same time something huge and white and furry was repelled backwards, and Rose, through the numbness of her shocked mind saw the humongous wolf get back to its feet, baring its teeth ferociously. Through the darkness of the green thickets of the Forest, more pairs of wolfish yellow eyes were nearing the trio. With a sharp yelp of fear, Fang ran away.

Still on her knees, trembling uncontrollably, Rose pointed her wand at the litter of Keterels, and whispered, before turning to face the five wolves, 'Protego Totalum! '

She clutched her wand tightly, pointing it straight into the wolves' faces, who eewere all growlinin low tones. Then, without warning, all of them sprang forwards onto the two terrified students.

The air was filled with red sparks and cries of 'Impedimita! ' and 'Stupefy! '. Rose managed to Stun one of the wolves, but not before another of them had sunk its canines into her arms. Barely able to move, she had to summon all of ber strength to hold up her wand somehow and whisper, ''Impedimita! '

Beside her, Scorpius was being confronted by three wolves at once. She hurried to his side and froze one of them using 'Petrificus totalus', while Scorpius Stunned another. The one wolf that was left whimpered, and then backed away to its abode.

Scorpius was breathing heavily, lying spread-eagled on the undergowth. The Shield Charm Rose had used on the Keterels had now weakened and they were now able to move on the other side of the invisible shield.

Rose sighed and bent over Scorpius, observing him carefully for the first time that night. Similar to her, he had canine marks on his left arm, and his nose was bleeding profusely. He tried to stop it thickly with his hands, then gave up.

'Here, I can fix that--' said Rose, inhaling deeply, '-- Scorpius. ' 'Scorpius, eh? ' he asked softly, his lips twiating in a sort of grimace. Rose hoped vainly that the darkness would hide her red cheeks, and whispered, pointing her wand at his nose, 'Episkey. ' Scorpius rubbed his nose lightly, and said, 'Thanks, er--Rose. '

He paused, raising his eyebrows at her wounded arm, and asked, 'You okay? ' Rose shrugged nonchalantly and said, ' I suppose Madame Pomfrey can fix it. '

'You were brilliant. ' he whispered, getting up and edging closer to her. Rose couldn't help the grin that spread on her flushed face. 'You too. '

And he grinned back.

There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and taking on a pack of fierce wolves is one of them.

A/N: Sorry for the last line, but I wanted to portray a sort throwbof similarity between the two generations ... I hope you like it.

I made Keterels up. :)))

Reviews make the heat wave of Delhi tolerable... Just saying. :))))