Disclaimer: All recognizable characters, places, ideas, events, etc. are not mine. They belong to the brilliant mind of JK Rowling.
WARNING: Alcohol use in this chapter.
When Rose woke up, it was to the arrogant drawl of Draco Malfoy. "Scorpius?" he must have just entered his son's bedroom. The lights outside of the bed flicked on.
"Shit," Scorpius hissed at Rose, "don't move." He poked his head out of the curtains that were closed around his bed and said to his dad, "Yeah?"
"I'm sorry, son, I know it's almost midnight and you were sleeping, but Ronald Weasley is here. Apparently his daughter ran off earlier today and they think for some insane reason that she might have come here. Would you please come out and assure Mr. Weasley that his daughter is not-"
"I don't trust you, Malfoy," Oh bloody hell, that was her dad! Rose's dad was in Scorpius' bedroom. "I'd like to make sure with my own eyes that Rose isn't here, thanks."
Scorpius slid out of the bed then, making sure to keep the curtains closed and he said silkily, "Mr. Weasley, I'm sorry, but your daughter isn't here. Rose and I aren't even friends, why would you think she would come here if she ran off?"
"That's none of your business-" Ron began, but Draco Malfoy interrupted.
"I disagree, Weasley. When you suddenly appear at my manor and demand to take a look in my son's bedroom, you make it my business. So please explain to us why on earth your daughter would come here."
"The reason she ran off," said Ron and Rose could tell he was scowling, "is because Hermione and I got into a fight with her. We found a tattoo on her wrist and Grace Vaisley told us that Malfoy, I mean, er, Scorpius, had the same tattoo on his wrist."
"Scorpius," snapped Draco, "is it true that Rose Weasley has the same tattoo?" Obviously Scorpius had been a lot more honest with his parents than Rose had been with hers because it was clear in Draco's tone that he knew exactly what tattoo was being talked about.
"I don't know. If she does it must be a weird coincidence," where had Scorpius learned to lie like that? Rose should take lessons from that boy!
"Are you sure you haven't heard from her or seen her?" Rose would have to admit, her resolve cracked a little bit when she heard her dad's voice break. Her family really was panicked. She hadn't even thought about how scared they would be or how frantically they would search for her.
"I'm so sorry, Mr. Weasley, but I've no idea where Rose is," Scorpius sounded very convincing. Even Rose almost believed him for a moment.
"Well if you do hear anything, please let my wife and me know. We're going crazy at home. She's never done anything like this before and we can't find her anywhere. We've checked with all of her friends, the Leaky Cauldron, Three Broomsticks, all of our relatives. We've all been on the phone for hours."
"If I have any idea where Rose is, I'll contact you immediately," Scorpius said this, in Rose's opinion, a bit too fast. Like he was anxious to get them out of his room, but she couldn't blame him.
"Alright. Sorry to have bothered you this late at night, Malfoy," Ron said grudgingly to Draco.
"Honestly, Weasley, it's okay. I would've done the same thing if Scorpius went missing and someone had mentioned him having a connection to your daughter."
"Thanks," Ron said with a sigh, "I guess I'll go home and tell Hermione to keep searching."
"Good luck, Weasley."
"Thanks, Malfoy," There was a CRACK and Rose knew her dad had disapparated.
"Alright, son, where is she?" asked Draco. Rose froze.
"Wh-what?" stuttered Scorpius in surprise.
"I'm the one who taught you how to lie. I know when you're telling the truth and when you're not. This time, you have been lying your arse off, so where are you hiding her?"
"Dad, I don't-"
"Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy, you either tell me right now where she is or I go back and tell Mr. Weasley that she's here and I'll let him find her himself. It's your choice."
"It's okay, Scorpius," Rose said loudly as she crawled out of his bed. The last thing she wanted was for her dad to find her in Scorpius' bed.
Draco's eyes widened in shock as he took in the scene before him. Rose, crawling out of his son's bed, wearing his son's t-shirt and boxers, her hair a frazzled mess, and she was sure she looked scared as hell.
"Well, this is a bit of a….disappointment." said Draco bluntly.
"Um, hi, er, Mr. Malfoy," Rose said, looking at her feet.
"Rose Weasley," he said shrewdly, "what are you doing in my son's bed? Or do I even want to know?"
"Bloody hell, dad, we were just sleeping!" said Scorpius.
"Right, because the way you both are dressed makes me inclined to believe that's all you were doing."
"When I ran off, we were in the middle of a pool party. I arrived here in my bathing suit, and Scorpius was kind enough to lend me a few of his things to sleep in," she mumbled.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
"Dad, I can explain," said Scorpius, "Rose and I became friends a year ago and she didn't know where else to go after she got into a fight with her parents. I told her she could stay here."
"You have been friends with a Weasley for an entire year?" Draco asked in surprise.
"Yes," said Scorpius confidently.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because you wouldn't have let me be friends with her."
Draco eyed his son seriously for a moment, then looked at Rose, then back to his son, then back at Rose and said finally to Scorpius, "You must care for her a lot. To lie to her father that way and let her borrow your clothes and sleep in your bed." Draco recalled the argument he and Scorpius had gotten into on Christmas Eve and suddenly everything made sense. This was the girl his son wanted. Draco felt like he might be sick.
"I do care about her a lot. Rose is my best friend. I care about her more than anyone aside from you and mum."
"Then how, Scorpius, could I deny you of something that you care about so dearly?" it seemed to be a rhetorical question, but it sounded too good to be true. Was Draco Malfoy really giving them his blessing to be friends?
"I-I don't know what to say," Scorpius stuttered.
"Just give me the benefit of the doubt next time, would you?" Draco ran a hand through his thinning blonde hair and said to Rose, "When I was barely a year older than you, your mother came here to this manor. Not by her own will, either. She was dragged here by Death Eaters. I watched and did nothing as my aunt tortured her in my sitting room. She would have died if Ron and Harry hadn't saved her. I would have let her die. Do you have any idea, Rose, what that sort of guilt does to a person?"
Shocked by his outburst Rose could do nothing but shake her head.
"It makes a person realize what's really important in life. And I feel like I owe your family something that I can never pay back. I feel like I will be in their debt forever. The very least I can do is let you stay here and be friends with my son. But, you must at least contact your parents to let them know that you're safe."
Rose nodded and he handed her a phone, "You have a muggle telephone?" she asked in surprise.
"Every once in a while, a muggle here or there might actually come up with something useful," he mumbled.
Smiling, she dialed her home phone number and let it ring. It rang three times before Hermione answered frantically, "Hullo?"
"Mum?"
"Rose?"
"Mum, listen, I'm okay. I'm safe, I'm with friends, you don't have to be worrying about me tonight, alright? I was-"
Hermione interrupted her, "Oh Rosie, I'm so sorry! I never meant to say those things to you or make you feel like I was accusing you of something. I just saw your tattoo and panicked! It was so unlike you! Please, please forgive me."
"Mum," Rose said calmly, "I forgive you, but I'm not coming home tonight. I'm staying with friends, and I'll see you tomorrow morning. I have to come home to get my things for Hogwarts after all."
"Are you sure you're safe? I've been searching everywhere and haven't found you."
"Yes, mum, I'm sure. I love you. Please tell dad that I love him and I'll see you both in the morning."
"Okay. Goodnight, sweetheart."
"Goodnight, mum." she hung up and handed the phone back to Draco, "Thank you," she said sincerely. He jerked his head to the side and Rose took that to mean 'you're welcome.'
"Scorpius, if you say you two were just sleeping, I believe you. It's rather late, you both should be getting back to bed. But I don't want any more secrets in this house, do you understand?"
"Yes, sir," Rose and Scorpius both said at the same time.
"And if Rose ever stays over here again, she's staying in a guest room, alright?"
"Yes, sir," they both said again.
"Good. Now go back to bed and don't tell your mother about this. Sweet Merlin she would kill me if she knew I let a girl sleep in your bed with you," Draco shook his head, "Goodnight."
"Night, Dad."
"Night, Mr. Malfoy."
As Draco left, he flicked his wand and the lights in the bedroom went out. "That was…surprising," said Scorpius.
"You can say that again."
"That was…surprising." Rose laughed and felt herself being picked up by Scorpius as he carried her back to the bed and they climbed in. "Now…" he said, his voice deep and sensual, "where were we?"
"Right here," she sighed contentedly as she snuggled against him, laid her head on his chest, and fell back asleep in the exact same position they had been in before.
"Rise and shine, you two!" Rose was woken up unceremoniously by Draco Malfoy. Again. Groaning, she began to stretch. During the night, she must have rolled over, because she was facing away from Scorpius lying on her side. Scorpius' chest was against her back and his arms were wrapped around her. She could feel his breath tickling the back of her neck.
"Dad," Scorpius said, his mouth right next to her ear, "it's too bloody early. Come back in an hour."
To their embarrassment, the curtains around the bed were torn open and Draco frowned at the sight of his son and Rose Weasley cuddling in bed. "It's nine o'clock. You need to get up."
"Blimey, is it nine already?" Rose asked as she sat up and yawned.
Scorpius pulled a pillow over his head and grumbled something incomprehensible. "Aw, come on, Scorp! Look at it this way, the sooner you get up and get to the station, the sooner you get to see all of your friends," she encouraged.
Scorpius' blonde head peeked out from under the pillow and Rose couldn't help but smirk at how adorable he looked. "My friends will simply have to wait to be graced by my presence." And his head disappeared back under the pillow.
"I need to get going home," she said as she threw her legs off of the bed. Draco stepped aside so Rose could get up, but out of nowhere a hand snaked around her middle and yanked her back into the bed.
"No, you don't, you can stay here and sleep for another hour," Scorpius' voice was muffled as his head was still hidden.
Giggling, she said, "I wish I could, but I'm sure my parents are still worried sick. I need to be getting home."
"Sweet Merlin," Draco said to himself as he rubbed his forehead as if he was in pain, "I really do not need to be witnessing this. I'm okay with you two being friends, but this is just a bit much for me to take in at the moment, so if you could both get out of the bed, that would be wonderful."
Sighing, Scorpius surfaced from the mattress and got up. Rose followed. "Thank you for letting me stay, Mr. Malfoy," she said quietly, looking at her feet.
"There's, uh, no need to thank me. Any friend of my son's is always welcome here," he turned and left the room just as somebody else came wandering in.
Rose stood frozen on the spot as a small blonde girl had entered the room wearing a pair of pink pajamas that were decorated with purple pygmy puffs. "Hullo," said the small girl in a voice that sounded like tinkling bells. She was the most beautiful little girl Rose had ever seen. She looked amazingly like her brother.
Scarlett Malfoy had blue-grey eyes that were full of life and love, long silvery blonde hair, and the face of a baby angel. Rose had the urge to pick her up and hug her, but she restrained herself and instead settled for just saying, "You must be Scarlett. My name is Rose."
"I know," said Scarlett with a giggle, "Scorp has pictures of you all over," the little girl motioned to Scorpius' dresser.
"Yes, he does," Rose agreed.
"Alright, Scar," said Scorpius sternly, "out you go, Rose has to leave."
"But I like her," Scarlett argued, grabbing Rose's hand.
"I like her, too, but it's time for her to go home," Scorpius spoke very gently and Rose had a flutter of butterflies erupt in her stomach when she heard Scorpius talk to his sister this way. Was that the way he would talk to his own children? Rose hoped so. He sounded so patient and loving.
Scarlett pouted and said sadly, "I wish I could go to Hogwarts."
"You will in a few years," Scorpius assured her as he ruffled her hair, "now run downstairs and I'll be there in a minute to eat breakfast with you. Is mum up yet?"
"Yes!" Scarlett looked excited at the prospect of telling her older brother something, "but daddy said that I'm not allowed to tell mum that a girl slept in your room last night."
"That's right," Scorpius said with a nod.
Scarlett let go of Rose's hand and Rose said, "It was nice to meet you, Scarlett."
"Come back sometime and play with me, okay?" Scarlett asked hopefully.
"Okay," Rose replied. The little girl smiled happily and skipped out of the room.
"Little pain in the arse," Scorpius' words were harsh, but his tone betrayed just how deeply his feelings ran for his little sister; he would do anything in the world for her and loved her more than he was willing to admit.
"She's lovely. Anyway, I need to get out of here," Rose motioned toward the fireplace. "I'll see you on the platform," she told Scorpius as she flung herself at him in a hug. "Bring Ophelia with you."
"Ophelia?" he asked in confusion.
"My kitten," Rose said as if this were the most obvious thing in the world.
He stroked her hair and said softly, "Don't worry, you know I will. See you soon," he kissed the top of her head and released her. She sauntered over to his fireplace, stepped in, dropped a handful of floo powder and away she went.
"Rose!" her mum had her arms around Rose before she was even out of the fireplace.
"What the bloody hell are you wearing?" and there was her dad.
Rose looked down at the clothes, blushing furiously. It seems she'd gotten soot on Scorpius' shirt and boxers. She would have to wash them before returning them. "In case you don't remember," She said haughtily, "I ran off in my bathing suit."
"Those are boys clothes," said Al, in shock.
She rolled her eyes at him and said, "No, really Al? I thought girls wore boxers."
"Whose are they?" Ron growled.
"Why can't everybody just leave me alone?" Rose snapped, "I didn't do anything with any guy. I swear I didn't. I went to a friend's house, he gave me clothes to sleep in and let me stay there. That's it, end of story."
"Who are you and what have you done with my daughter?" asked her dad.
"What?"
"You've been sneaking out of your dorm at night for the past year, you have had this tattoo for Merlin knows how long, then you disappear over to a boys' house all night and come home wearing his clothes. I just don't know where we went wrong. Where did we go wrong, Hermione? When she was young she was just like you."
"We didn't go wrong anywhere, Ronald, I'm sure Rose is just going through a phase. And if she says she didn't do anything with this boy, then we're going to have to believe her," her mum was sticking up for her.
"Yeah, just like we believed she wouldn't get a tattoo? Or that she wouldn't sneak out of the dorm at night anymore after she promised us she wouldn't?" Ron spat back. Rose flinched.
"Calm down, Ron," said Ginny Potter angrily, "We know Rose. She's a good girl. So maybe she takes after Fred and George a bit too much, but what's wrong with that? Remember when mum used to go crazy because they were always making dangerous things in their bedroom?"
Her dad seemed to be considering his sister's words and said finally, "I know Rose is a good girl, I'm just worried that she might be going down the wrong path."
Not wanting to hear any more of this argument, and seeing as how they were only talking about her and not to her, Rose snuck upstairs to finish packing. Albus, James, and Lily went with her. Hugo stayed downstairs to listen to his parents' discussion. Her three cousins were all helping her in silence until James said, "You smell like a boy."
"Well I am wearing boy clothes," Rose said with a sigh.
"No, it's more than that. You smell a bit like cologne, and I'm guessing these clothes were clean when you put them on, so I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that you slept in a boys' bed?"
Rose didn't say anything for a moment, just kept grabbing clothes and tossing them into her trunk. Al asked quietly, "Did you sleep in a boys' bed?"
"Yes, I did, but for the millionth time, nothing happened."
"You could have stayed at our house," Al said, looking at his feet, "I know you were mad at your parents, but you could have at least stayed with us so that we didn't all go crazy looking for you."
Rose finished folding the shirt in her hands and said, "I know I could've, but I was at your house when I got into the fight, and I didn't want my parents to be able to find me, I was so mad at them."
"Where did you go then?"
"I won't tell you that, Albus."
"I know you weren't with Phineas. Or Lysander and Lorcan. We called all of our relatives, too. Uncle Ron personally checked Malfoy's mansion and Zander Goyle's flat. You weren't at Teddy's house…" he trailed off.
"You aren't going to get me to tell you, Al. I'm sorry but this is one secret I'm going to keep."
"One secret?" he scoffed, his siblings in the room being forgotten, "you have been keeping so many secrets for so long now that I don't think you're telling me half of what's really going on in your life. You know, all we do is love you and trust you and cover up for you! We didn't say one word to any of our parents about how close you are to Goyle and Malfoy at school. That's how loyal we are to you, Rose, but apparently that door only swings one way."
Rose felt like he had stabbed her right in the heart. "Albus…." she began, but he interrupted.
"Don't bother. Don't even try to talk me into forgiving you and acting like everything's okay when you don't even trust me anymore! So sneak out of the dorm all you want, get all of that tattoos you want, hell, might as well throw a couple of piercings in there! And don't forget to go sleep in the beds of random blokes while you're at it!" Albus surprised her by throwing her Transfiguration textbook at the wall, and then stormed out.
Rose had never seen Al blow up like that before. Ever. She stood there, tears accumulating in her eyes and Lily said soothingly, "As much as I hate to see you hurt like this, Rose, Al is right. You've been keeping way too much from us. Maybe your dad is right, too and you're headed down the wrong path. I don't know. Just start trusting us more and be honest about stuff, alright?" Lily spun around and chased after Al.
"I'm sorry," said James, "I know what it's like when your parents don't think you have your head on straight. A large part of me agrees with my siblings, but I know what it's like to be in your shoes as well. I've been telling you for a year now that I think you're wrong to trust Malfoy and Goyle, but I don't think that makes you a bad person. Love you, Rose." James gave her a hug and left the bedroom.
Trying to concentrate on what needed to be done, Rose finished packing, took a shower, got dressed, and her family left for the train station in silence. Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny both treated Rose like normal, hugged her goodbye, promised to write to her, and gave her a few chocolate frogs for the trip. It was her own parents, however, who were acting differently. Her dad was acting like he didn't know what to do or how to treat her, and her mom was overcompensating by hugging Rose twice as much and crying twice as hard.
It was with a feeling of immense relief that Rose stepped onto the train and it took off toward Hogwarts. She didn't even wave to her parents from the train. She made my way quickly to the prefects' compartment and found almost everyone already there. She casually flung herself into the seat between Scorpius and the window.
"How are things?" He whispered.
"I'll tell you later," she whispered back. Trying to cheer her up, he reached under the seat and his hand came up holding a small furry creature. Rose let out an excited squeal and immediately reached out for the kitten. Ophelia mewed and curled up contentedly on Rose's lap. Rose had never received such a perfect gift.
Just as Ophelia fell asleep on Rose, the prefect meeting began. It took most of the train ride to sort out of all their responsibilities and schedules and everything. After all of the other prefects left to go find their friends, it was just Scorpius and Rose in the compartment.
"You look like hell," he said simply.
"My entire family is arguing about me. Most of them seem convinced that I am going down a wrong path and that I must be a member of some crazy blood-status-obsessed gang."
"Well, you're not."
Rose had to laugh, "Of course I'm not!"
"Would it help it I told them that I knew for a fact this was not the case?"
Playfully, she punched his shoulder, "Absolutely not. If they ever found out that you knew where I was going at night but they didn't, they would have my head on a stick."
"That…doesn't sound very pleasant," he said lamely.
Rose snuggled up to him, leaning her head on his shoulder, and said, "No, no it doesn't. Maybe one day I could somehow earn a ticket to invite somebody to a Dragon Club meeting. That way, if Albus came with me, just once, he would know what was going on and with his help we could convince the others that I don't need an intervention."
"Or, you could simply not give a rat's fart about what they think," while saying this, he wrapped an arm around her.
"I know it's stupid, but I do care. They're my family. Well, except for Olivia and Grace, but they're practically family."
"Oh yeah, I always forget that you're friends with – GRACE VAISLEY!" speak of the devil, Grace had just flung the compartment door open without any warning. To find Rose curled up against Scorpius Malfoy, with his arm around her.
"I knew it!" she cried, though she looked shocked, "I knew you've been hiding something big! So what is this then, eh? You've been secretly dating Malfoy and he's convinced you to join his slimy group of Death Eater wannabes?"
"Grace!" Rose screamed, outraged, "You've no idea what the hell you are talking about! I am not dating Malfoy and I am most definitely not in any gang!" Ophelia woke up at the shouting and let out an angry hiss before diving under the seat and out of sight.
"I just caught you two snuggled up together all cozy in a compartment all to yourselves and you're going to deny what I saw with my own two eyes?" she demanded.
"Grace, you've always been able to tell when I'm lying. Am I lying now?"
"I…er…don't know. You could have gotten better at it," she said.
"Grace," Rose growled.
"Fine, it looks like you're telling the truth, but I can't think of any other conclusion that makes sense!"
"Then stop looking for a conclusion! And seriously? The conclusion that I'm dating Scorpius and participating in muggle torture makes sense?" Rose asked scathingly.
"No, I guess not, I just don't know what to think!"
"Then don't think anything, this is my business."
"Rose, you're right, I give up! I don't think you're doing anything bad, I just don't think you're doing anything good either. But if you're really that bent on me not knowing, then I'll let you get back to whatever it was you were in the middle of," she turned and left, slamming the compartment door shut behind her.
"…and then I told her that I gave up, her business is her business and I left," Grace had just finished telling her friends the scene she had walked in on in the prefects' compartment.
"You're sure she was snuggling with Malfoy? Snuggling?" James asked in astonishment.
"Yes. Here I'll demonstrate," Grace strode over to Lysander, snuggled up to him, placed his arm around her, and leaned her head on his shoulder, "just like this," Grace said.
"Holy fucking Merlin," said Lily.
"Then you think those were his clothes she came home in?" asked Hugo, "But dad said he went over to Malfoy Manor himself. He said he checked with both Draco and Scorpius and that Rose wasn't there."
"They could have lied," said Olivia evenly.
"It just doesn't make any sense," Albus spoke for the first time, "Rose and Malfoy are sort of friends, I guess, but they don't fancy each other."
"I think," said Grace slowly, like she was about to deliver some very bad news, "I think that's all just a front and they're actually dating."
"So you think they're more than friends?" asked Hugo, glaring.
"I'm not sure. If I had to guess, I'd say yes. They were just a bit too cozy in that compartment, you know?" she wrinkled her nose as she spoke.
"And you just left them in there together?" demanded James.
"I just don't think we're going to get anywhere with being direct. Which is why I went and fetched you from the compartment you were in with your Quidditch pals," Grace said to James, "I need your help to devise a plan that will unravel this mystery."
"What are you suggesting?" asked James shrewdly.
"Well, several things. First of all, we know you have that wonderful map of yours. I think it would be excellent for you to keep an eye on it for Rose from now on," she turned to Albus then and said, "Al, you have the Cloak."
"What about my Cloak?" he asked.
"I think it would be a good idea for you, or any one of us really, to sit in the Gryffindor common room, under the Cloak. Wait for Rose to leave, then follow her."
"That's…why…how…IT TOOK YOU A WHOLE YEAR TO COME UP WITH SUCH A SIMPLE PLAN?" Albus yelled.
"Yes, well, you didn't come up with it at all so who's the clever one now?" she snapped.
"Hold on!" said James, holding up his hand in a signal for everyone to be quiet. "I think that's a good idea," said James evenly, "Albus, follow her. I'll watch the map."
"But James," Al protested, "Nobody ever knows what night Rose is going to sneak off. I can't just stay up past midnight every night until she goes somewhere!"
"It's easy to tell what nights Rose will be sneaking out," Olivia said quietly, "When there are people in the common room and it's starting to get late, she gets nervous and tells everyone that they should really be heading to bed. Occasionally she'll even force them to be in bed by midnight, being a prefect and all."
"That's…I never noticed that, but you're right," Lily said it, but they were all thinking it.
"Then it's decided," said Grace simply.
Later that night, Albus began to notice the warning signs. Around eleven o'clock Rose started getting a bit anxious, and by eleven thirty, she was practically yelling at a group of third years to go to bed. She turned to Albus then and asked frantically, "Why are you still up, Al?"
He took a deep breath, trying to remember the story they'd come up with on the train, "I'm waiting for everyone else to go to bed because I want to sneak off to drop some dungbomb's in Filch's office. He gave me detention after the feast for, and I quote, 'breathing too loudly.'"
"Oh okay then, you can go ahead and go if you want, you know I won't stop you," she said this a bit too quickly.
"I want to take my Cloak. You know, just in case. Do you think you could grab it for me?"
"Sure," he watched as she literally ran up the stairs and ran back down, Cloak in hand, panting. "There you go," she said and thrust it into his arms.
"Thanks, Rose," He winked at her as he threw the Cloak around his shoulders, "I'm going to go grab the dungbombs and I'll be off!" he pulled the Cloak over his head so that he was entirely invisible and hoped she thought he ran up the boys' stairs.
She must've thought he was gone, because she turned and fled up the girls' stairs. Albus waited for only about fifteen minutes before she came back into the common room, looking around cautiously. She was wearing a floor length emerald green strapless ball gown. What the hell?
Her hair was done nicely, and was she wearing make-up? Albus stood up and followed her to the portrait hole, she opened it, climbed out, and he jumped out stealthily behind her. She must've heard the muffled sound of his feet hitting the floor in the corridor, because she spun around, squinted into the darkness, then shrugged and closed the portrait hole behind her.
"Sorry I'm late," said the too familiar voice of Scorpius Malfoy. Albus watched with shock as Scorpius appeared, wearing a bloody tuxedo, extended his arm to Rose, and she took it! Albus couldn't wait to tell Olivia about this. They had suspected that her late nights involved Malfoy, but here was proof! What was his cousin doing sneaking off with this git at night?
Albus jogged a few paces ahead to catch up to them so that he could hear what they were saying. "You know, Rose, Slytherin green looks spectacular on you."
"Thanks, but I think I prefer Gryffindor red."
Scorpius laughed and said, "Of course you do, my sweet little Gryffindor girl." And he kissed the top of her head. He kissed the top of her head!
"Scorp, I'm really worried about my family. They really think that I'm some…some terrible pure-blood maniac. I mean, I'm not even a pure-blood myself!"
"Neither was Voldemort," he said evenly. This earned him a slap on the arm from, which made Albus grin. "Sorry," Scorpius mumbled. Wait, did he just apologize? This was not the Malfoy that Al knew. "Let's just go and have a good time tonight, alright?"
"Okay, Scorpius, that sounds good to me. Oh, and Scorp?"
"Yes?"
"Thank you for being such a wonderful friend to me."
He simply nodded and pulled her closer to him. They were in the Charms corridor now and they paused outside of the charms classroom. But what was this? It appeared empty. The door suddenly swung open and when it did, lights and sounds came spilling out. "Tats?" asked a seventh year Slytherin bloke.
Rose and Scorpius both extended their arms. The boy nodded to them and they entered. So that was the connection between all of their tattoos! Albus didn't have the chance, however, to sneak into the classroom, because the tattoo-checker was blocking the doorway. Albus dodged behind a suit of armor, took off the Cloak and approached the door. It opened and the boy eyed him suspiciously before asking, "Do you have an invitation, Potter?"
"I, er, lost it," he invented wildly.
"No invitation, no entrance."
"Invitation?" he asked indignantly.
"Yep. You need an invitation or a tattoo to get in there. Sorry, Potter, better luck next time," and he slammed in the door in Al's face. Stupid git.
He ran all the way back up to Gryffindor Tower. If it were possible, he would've ran up the girls' stairs to get Olivia out of bed, but as it was, the stairs would turn into a slide before he could make it half way up them.
It seemed like a waste of time to wake up James and Hugo to tell them what he'd discovered and then having to repeat himself the following morning, so he just decided to go to sleep.
As soon as they were inside, Scorpius whispered, "I think Potter followed us."
Rose's mind, which was lightning fast, recalled the conversation she had with Al before leaving the common room. Perhaps he had lied about why he wanted his Cloak. "Why do you think that?"
"When I was approaching your common room, I could've sworn I saw a glimpse of his trainers, and then the whole way I thought I could hear somebody behind us."
"That bloody wanker. Do you think he's here?" she asked.
"No," said Scorpius, "there's no way he could've gotten past Hawley." Rose couldn't argue with that.
They went over to the bar, and Scorpius grabbed a tall glass of firewhiskey. It was rare for him to get drunk, and Rose knew that the glass he was drinking would only make him, at most, slightly tipsy. It probably wouldn't affect him at all. Surprising everyone, she said to Steven, "How about one of those wicked margaritas?"
He raised his eyebrows at her in question, and when she didn't retract her statement, he shrugged, mixed one up and handed it to her, "Thanks," she said and sipped it.
"Rose, you never drink," said Scorpius as he eyed her suspiciously.
"Yes, well, I just need to really let loose tonight after the past couple of days I've had!" Rose drained the rest of the drink and motioned for another one. Before she even realized what was happening, she was drunk.
"Okay, darling, I think you've let loose enough," Scorpius said as he snatched an alcoholic beverage out of her hand. She wasn't even sure what it was; a margarita? Vodka? Firewhiskey?
"But I want it," she whined as she tried to snatch it back. But Scorpius moved his arm. Or did he keep his arm still and she missed the drink?
"No," he said simply, "I promised to protect you, and I'm going to do just that. Even from yourself."
She grumbled and complained but to no avail. She was vaguely aware of Delilah announcing that she was now officially a Senior Member of the Dragon Club, which meant that she ranked as high as Scorpius and Zander. "Is she…Rose are you, drunk?" asked Zander.
"Nope," Rose said as she stumbled around. She snatched up a chair and climbed up onto a desk. "To the Dragon Club!" she yelled, holding a pretend glass in her hand. Seeing as how most of the people were just as intoxicated as she was, they all echoed her toast and downed their drinks.
"What are you, queen of the Dragon Club now?" Zander teased as he helped her down off of the desk.
"Yes," she said haughtily as she grabbed Scorp's hand, "we are King and Queen Dragon."
Snorting, Scorpius said, "She is so far gone, Zan."
"I know," he said enthusiastically, "this is hilarious!"
"I need to get you out of here," Scorpius said to her then he swept her up into his arms.
"But I don't want to go!" she whined.
"Too bad, you're leaving," Scorpius was carrying her away.
"Nooo," she whined.
"Yes." He said.
"Okay." she consented.
"That's it? You're giving up?"
"I don't mind leaving as long as you're with me," she told him honestly. Scorpius literally carried her out of the party, down the corridor, and all around the castle, "Scorpius," she groaned, "where are we going?"
"I can't take you back to your common room. You're extremely drunk, Rose."
"Then where are you taking me? Wooo, I am getting dizzy."
"I am taking you to the Room of Requirement."
"The what of retirement?"
Snorting, he repeated himself saying, "The Room of Requirement. My dad told me about it and I've used it occasionally in the past."
"Where is this room?"
"Seventh floor."
"So you are carrying me up five flights of stairs?"
"I'm glad to know that your brain is still somewhat functioning after all of the alcohol you consumed," he quipped.
"I'm heavy," she told him.
He laughed, "Rose, you're shockingly light."
"You're just shockingly strong," she mumbled.
"I won't argue with that, love."
Rose was dropped onto a bed, "Oh, are we there?" she asked as she looked around. She was lying on a warm and cozy bed. There was a fire place against one wall and it filled the room with warmth.
"Yes, we're here," he was loosening his tie, pulling it off, throwing off his suit coat.
"Are you staying with me?"
"Yes. You wouldn't mind sleeping with me two nights in a row, would you?"
"No, not at all," she said this with a bit too much enthusiasm. "I would like to sleep with you every night," she admitted. In the morning, if she could remember this, she would die of embarrassment.
Scorpius smiled at her a dashing smile, the firelight reflecting in his eyes, "I hope you mean sex and not actually sleeping."
"Both," she said. Sweet Merlin, she hoped she wouldn't remember this the next morning.
His eyebrows disappeared into his blonde hair in surprise, "You don't mean that," he challenged.
"Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy, don't you presume to tell me what I do and do not mean. I meant it. I fancy you. I think you're absolutely gorgeous, you're my best friend, and I'm tempted to make a move on you every time I see you. It was bloody hard to sleep with you last night and just sleep." Why was she confessing all of this? Stupid mouth, stop talking!
"You're just saying that because you're drunk," he concluded. He sat down beside her on the bed.
"Yes," she conceded, "I am just saying it because I'm drunk, but it's still true even when I'm sober."
"Do you really mean that?" he asked. Rose nodded. Then she did the unthinkable and leaned toward him intending to kiss him, but he turned his head away. Pulling away, she blinked back tears of rejection that were stinging her eyes. "You should get some sleep," he said, still facing away from her.
"I…okay…" she said slowly. She let her hair down, and thankful for an excuse to not have to look at Scorpius, Rose climbed in under the covers of the bed.
"Are you going to sleep in that pretty dress?" he asked.
"Well I'm certainly not sleeping in the nude," she snapped.
"You could do what I'm going to do and sleep in your underwear." she watched as he stripped off his dress shirt, slipped out of his pants, pulled off his shoes and socks. Until he was in nothing but a pair of boxers. She couldn't help but stare.
"It's okay," he said evenly, "I know I have amazingly good looks. Stare all you like, Rose."
"I am not staring," she lied.
"You're a terrible liar, sweetheart," he walked around to the other side of the bed and climbed in. He moved to pull her toward him, but she pulled away from him instead. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"I'm not snuggling up to you," she said haughtily, "you wouldn't even kiss me."
"Is that what this is about?" he inquired.
Still trying not to cry, she sniffled a bit and whispered, "Yes."
"Rose," he sighed and wrapped his arms around her, "I want to kiss you so badly I feel like I'm about to explode, but I don't want it like this. You are so drunk you probably wouldn't even remember it. I don't want to kiss you when you'll have no idea what happened tomorrow morning. Plus, I want you to kiss me willingly when you're sober. I'm not taking advantage of you like this."
Rose rolled over to face him, wiping away the tears that were falling down her face, "Really? You didn't turn away because you find me revolting?"
"I could never find you revolting. You are the most gorgeous woman I've ever met, and you want the truth? I've fancied you for an entire year now. When you wake up, if you remember this conversation, you're more than welcome to snog me then, alright?"
She nodded and cuddled up to him. He sighed contentedly, stroking her hair, and she felt herself relax entirely. "Goodnight Scorpius."
"Goodnight, Rose."
"Thanks for being amazing," she said.
She felt his hand stop it's stroking motion on her hair, and his entire body stiffened. "You're welcome," he said after a moment. Then she fell asleep. Or passed out. She was not entirely sure which.
A/N: Another long chapter! I hope everyone enjoys it! This is one of my favorite chapters! Let me know if you think I'm doing a good job with the story or if you have any suggestions!