I paced up and down my father's office, and as I paced, I panicked.

Today, I was working up the nerve to tell Dad, and so far, I was chickening out of saying anything. I really was a terrible Gryffindor. Scorpius had told Lucius, and though he dismissed his grandfather's reaction, I had a sense that they had had a serious fight. That made it all the more vital that I do this.

Dad was in a meeting with Uncle Harry, Teddy and the rest of the Aurors, so that left me hovering about in his office and wishing I'd never come. I owed it to Scorp, though, and that's the only thought that stopped me from bolting out the door.

I practiced.

"Listen, Dad, you know how Scorpius Malfoy and I kind of... well, fell out a bit? Well, thing is, we sort of... made up and now we're a... couple." No that was way too clumsy. I needed something that flowed more, that radiated the absolute certainty I felt about our relationship.

"Listen, Dad, I know you hate Scorpius Malfoy and want to disembowel him and stick his head on a spike and display it from the Astronomy tower in Hogwarts, but I'm dating him." That was, if possible, worse than the first one. Forget that, then.

"Dad, I just want you to know that the reason I have been so miserable the past few months... well, years really, is because I was hopelessly in love with Scorpius Malfoy and it turns out that he loves me too, so now we're together. Sorry if that upsets you." Sorry if that upsets you? No. Definitely not! This is not coming out right...

"Rosie-Posie?" Dad's voice came from behind me as he entered the room, and I shrieked and jumped backwards, spilling a ceramic pot of quills all over his desk as I knocked them with one flailing hand.

"Ah! Oh, sorry, Daddy!" I apologised, hastily gathering up the fallen quills. "You made me jump."

"Don't worry about it kiddo. It's only a couple of feathers. How come you came down here on a weekend especially to see me?" Dad crossed behind his desk and sat down in his chair, motioning with one hand for me to do the same in the only other vacant chair, the one in front of his desk. I sat obediently. I didn't get a chance to find the right thing to say, I fretted. I'm just going to have to wing it and hope for the best. At least St. Mungo's was nearby, should the need for a healer arise. It was a possibility.

"I wanted to talk to you about something," I informed him, working hard to keep the tremor out of my voice.

"What has Hugo done now?" he asked suspiciously, his eyes narrowing. I felt simultaneously smug and stung at his assumption. Smug, because Dad never assumed that I had done anything wrong; that was an impossibility for him. Stung, because he was so ready to believe that I would tell tales on my brother.

"Hugo hasn't done anything, Dad, honestly. It's about... me."

Dad nodded seriously and stroked his long, freckled nose thoughtfully with one finger. "What's the matter, honey?"

"I have some news..." I began, taking a deep breath to steel myself. "And I don't think you're going to like it."

I watched as Dad's eyes grew too wide for their sockets. "Rosie, you're starting to scare me."

I screwed my eyes shut tight; it was easier to crush him when I couldn't see his face. "I... it's about Scorpius Malfoy." I opened my eyes a fraction to see my father's murderous glare, and shut them again quickly.

"What has that boy done to you now?" he growled, livid.

"Nothing. Or, well, nothing bad. He... I... We... Ilovehimandwe'regoingout!"My words tumbled out in one big splurge.

There was nothing but silence for a very long time. I could hear the bustle of ministry workers outside Dad's office, I could hear the whirring of one of his weird magical instruments in the corner, and I could even hear the ticking of his watch. But there was no noise coming from him.

Cautiously, I opened my eyes again.

Dad was leaning forward with his hands braced on the table and his blue eyes popping. His mouth was slack and he looked half crazed, a demeanour which was added to by the fact that his skin was slowly curdling, or so it appeared, changing from cream to pink to magenta to scarlet to maroon to indigo. I waited patiently until he could regain the ability to speak, my knees knocking together.

"Breathe, Dad. You're turning worrying colours," I instructed. He complied, drawing in one ragged breath. Still, he said nothing.

Finally, he barked out one word, short and sharp. "WHAT?"

"Dad..." I tried to placate him, actually beginning to get concerned for his heart.

"Don't you 'Dad' me, Rose Weasley! What are you thinking?! Have you lost your mind?! MALFOY! After everything he's put you through! Are you just a glutton for punishment Rose, is that it?! That boy is TROUBLE! And you are too good for him! What in Merlin's name is going through your head?! Of all the things..."

I flinched when he shouted, but otherwise remained unresponsive until I was sure he had run out of steam. It took an impressive seventeen minutes for him to calm down, and when he did, he sank into his chair with his head in his hands.

"Malfoy!" he muttered weakly, shaking his head in desperation.

"Dad, I'm really hoping you're going to be okay with this," I whispered. "Because Scorpius is really, really important to me. And whether you like it or not, I can see this relationship going the distance. And I mean that."

He lifted his head up to look me in the eye at those words. "You can?"

"Yes," I vowed, and my transparent honesty was convincing enough for my father.

***

Possibly the best part about the fact that Dad had finally, finally come around to the idea of me and Scorpius was that we now had nothing to hide. And now that we had nothing to hide... we both felt entirely weightless. That was both a good thing, and a bad thing. Good, because it meant that there was no need to look over our shoulders. Bad, because, well, there was nothing to hold us back now, nothing to stop us from being and doing whatever we wanted... and that kind of freaked me out.

Okay, it terrified me.

Not that I would dream of mentioning it to Scorp. We were just lying together on the sofa in our common room, talking quietly and exchanging kisses, but still, I worried. I wondered and I worried what would happen when he moved his hand a bit higher than where it lay on my waist, or even scarier, if he moved it lower. I wouldn't have the first clue about what to do, but he did, and that was the problem. What if he thought I was ridiculously naive and daft? What if he laughed at me? What if... and this was the worst thought of all... he decided he didn't want to be with me anymore? These worries, the product of a lifetime's insecurities somehow centring on Scorpius Malfoy, were eating me up inside until I couldn't even enjoy the moment for what it was; just a kiss.

Scorpius pulled back from me, and my lips were suddenly free. I pressed them tightly together and looked up into his mercury grey eyes with an apologetic expression.

His eyes narrowed slightly. "You aren't into this, are you?" he accused. I blushed. So I hadn't fooled him by pretending I wasn't worried. Drat.

"It's not you, it's..."

He cut me off. "Rosie, I swear, if you finish that sentence by saying me, I will hex you." There was a slightly mischievous twinkle in his eyes as he spoke, but the threat was still there.

"I wasn't going to say me!" I protested.

"Well, that's alright then," he replied, smirking.

"I was going to say that I..." I trailed off; embarrassed by the hole I had just dug for myself.

"That you...?" he prompted gently, stroking the back of his hand across one of my burning cheeks.

"That I don't really know... where to go from here. I mean, I don't know how..." But instead of finishing my sentence, I dropped my gaze and turned completely magenta, stuttering into silence. Seventeen years old and a complete novice towards anything more sexually explicit than kissing! I should be ashamed of myself. I bet Scorpius is embarrassed for me.

"Rosie." His tone was very serious. I glanced up again, and was surprised to find him smiling down at me. Not a teasing smile, but one of those gloatingly affectionate smiles that a loved-up newlywed husband gives his wife. "Are you trying to tell me that you're a bit nervous because you're a virgin and you don't know how serious this will get and how quickly it will happen?"

Well, yes, actually, that's what I was trying to articulate – and failing miserably. "Uh-huh."

"It's not a race, Rosie," he answered softly, his breath tickling my cheek.

"I know, I just thought..."

"Take it one step at a time, babe. We've only got forever." I smiled at his words. I liked the sound of forever.

"You're not... impatient?" I asked, feeling that my wording was wrong, and concerned that I might offend him. Scorpius smirked again.

"About most things, yes. With you... no. I've waited five years for you, Rosie. A few more months won't kill me."

I pulled my head up off the sofa cushions and kissed him with a ferocity that was a surprise to myself, let alone Scorpius. Although, it was a good one, as far as surprises went, so his response was to pull my arms up tightly around his neck and kiss me back with a fervour that bordered on violence. His hand slid down my waist and along my thigh, and I let it. It didn't seem nerve-wracking when he was kissing me like this. I wasn't nervous when his hand began to whisper across the skin on the inside of my thigh, either. It seemed so silly, because there was nothing scary about it.

I broke free of our kiss then, and my fingers moved to Scorpius's neck, to fumble around with the knot of his tie, trying to loosen it.

"Rose," he panted. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like?" I answered, just as breathlessly. "I'm trying to undo this."

"But I thought you said...?" he began, puzzled. His hands automatically moved to his tie, and he tugged it loose in one effortless jerk. I had to marvel for a second at how he did that.

"Oh, never mind what I said!" I snapped impatiently. "I was talking rubbish!"

He laughed, a sound of surprised delight, as I crushed my lips against his once more, my fingers now unbuttoning his shirt quickly and clumsily. He, a lot more artfully than me, it had to be said, raised my arms in the air and tugged my jumper off, our kiss breaking for only a second. He threw it casually on the floor at the same time as I disregarded his shirt. I moved so that I was straddling his lap, and began to unbutton my own top, while Scorpius lightly trailed kisses down my neck and across my collarbone. I was breathing so hard it sounded like I had just run a marathon.

"Rosie," he whispered as he inched the hem of my skirt higher up my thighs with one hand. "Are you sure about this?"

I gave him a disparaging look. "Don't I seem sure?"

"Well, you seem drunk, to be perfectly honest." His smirk was back. I laughed giddily.

"Malfoy, for once in your life, shut up," I instructed sternly.

"Yes, ma'am," he replied, and leaned in to press his lips to mine once more.

***

I woke up to a canopy of green hangings and nothing but a quilt protecting my modesty. A light blush creeping up my cheeks, I grinned. Last night had been... well, perfect, really. In a kind of stop-the-clocks, stand-on-top-of-the-Astronomy-tower-and-sing-your-love-to-the-world way. I couldn't have been happier if I had won the Daily Prophet Lottery jackpot, or if Rita Skeeter was thrown into Azkaban for slander and libel in regards to my family. This was one of those defining moments, the ones where you wake up and everything is just the way it's meant to be.

It was complete heaven. And there was one person to share it with...

I rolled over, and expecting to feel warm skin, I instead felt nothing but cold sheets. Surprised, I opened my eyelids. The sunlight was bright and extremely disorientating, so I rubbed my knuckles across my eyes hard, in an effort to clear them. Blinking heavily, I waited for my eyes to adjust.

It was quiet, too quiet, and that was the first sign that something wasn't right.

"Scorpius?" I called. No answer except birdsong. I tried again. "Scorp? Are you there?"

If he were anywhere in our common area, he would have heard that. I couldn't see him just ignoring me, so that led me to conclude that he wasn't in our tower, and had gone down for breakfast. I moved to get up, and then suddenly, I saw.

Scorpius's side of his bed was littered with shards of glass, as was the stone floor. And the window... the window had been smashed.

I felt nausea sweeping over me, and I clapped a hand to my mouth. "No!"

I dashed over to the shattered window, not caring that I wasn't wearing any clothes, and not caring that I might cut myself on the broken glass. Something, or someone, had been through here. Someone had taken Scorpius.

I peered at a shard of glass still sticking out of the window. It was at about the height of my armpit, and it was stained in deep crimson.

Blood.

"Oh my God!" I hissed; my voice no more than a deathly whisper. "Scorpius, where are you?"

A frightened tear splashed down my cheek.