Author's Note: This story is dedicated to all of my friends that made me include themselves in it and to my BETA, who is doing a amazing job as a grammar freak :) I do not own anything, all rights go to the queen Jo. Read it, enjoy it and review it :)

Scorpius

Spending the summer at the Burrow wasn't as bad as I thought. The worst part was receiving letters from my parents telling me everything was alright and saying bad things about each other. They were getting a divorce and dad thought it would be better if I didn't stay at the manor and watch them arguing and barely talking to each other. So, he wanted to send me to Grandma Cissy's place, but I convinced him that I could stay with Albus. Dad wasn't very happy with the idea at first, but he made quite an effort to talk to Mr. Potter and I was allowed to stay at the Burrow.

The place was simple if compared to the manor, but it was much warmer, comfier and definitely more crowded. In the summer, only the children stayed there and as Albus had many cousins, I could get to know each one of them. Albus' grandma, Mrs. Weasley, was very kind to let me stay and she treated me like I was one of her grandchildren. However, the weirdest situation was that I became friends with Rose, for real. I guess when you spend three months of summer with someone, you kind of grow closer with them. Albus was excited to see us getting along and the three of us had loads of fun together. James wasn't happy with it, but the others couldn't care less. The Weasleys and Potters were very cool with me, even though our family had a disturbed past.

After three months of fun and at the same time three months of worry because of my parents' letters, 1st of September came and I went with everybody to King's Cross Station hoping that any of my parents would show up to say goodbye. I missed them a lot and I had only seen them at the first week of summer.

"Hey Malfoy," Rose poked me. "Stop staring at nothing. It's almost time."

Although we were friends, Rose didn't lose the habit to call me Malfoy, but every time I called her Weasley, a bunch of heads would turn to me and I had to specify who I was calling, so I learnt to call her Rose.

I shook my head and walked with her and Albus to the train doors. We found a good compartment and we were waiting for the train to leave. Rose and Al waved their final goodbye and the train started to move. There were no signs of those that called themselves my responsibles.

"Are you okay?" Al asked. "You seem a bit off today."

"I'm fine," I shrugged.

"We know you're lying. We know you miss them, but it's not up to you to worry about their problems. They are working it out," Rose replied.

"I know I shouldn't worry, but I just wanted to see them before going back," I looked at her.

Rose got up, sat by my side and hugged me. It was weird, but she was my friend so I hugged her back. Suddenly, the door opened and Steph entered the compartment. Rose let me go quickly and got up again.

"There you are," Steph exclaimed with a hysterical voice. "I've been looking for you everywhere."

"I'm going to look for my friends and my boyfriend," Rose said right after. "See you at the castle."

Al and I waved goodbye and she left. Steph threw herself at me and I kissed her.

"I'm sorry about your parents, Scorp," she said.

"I think it is better this way. They never really loved each other," I shrugged.

Steph realized that I was upset with the whole situation and we didn't talk about it anymore. Alice and Tom joined us only at the castle. The welcome feast was great and the Headmistress' speech was boring, as usual.

The first month of classes passed and I only got one letter from my mum and two from my dad, although I sent them a letter each week. It seemed things weren't going very well, but neither of them gave me any details. My mood hadn't been the greatest and school began to sound boring. Quidditch practice was only going to start after Halloween unfortunately. As the days passed, I realized I was different. I was arguing with Steph about stupid things and her voice was irritating me like it never did before. I tried my best not to get mad, but there were some days I regretted coming out of bed. That divorce was getting on my nerves and the lack of information was driving me crazy.

On the beginning of October, the Heads announced that they were planning a Halloween Ball. It would be held at the Great Hall on the last weekend of the month. Third years and up were allowed to go and it was going to be a costume party. There would be, also, a talent show and for those who wanted to perform, they would have to sign up until the end of the week. Besides, there would be some trick or treats arcades, so it sounded like something fun was finally going to happen. I was excited with the idea of the party and I hoped that the look on Steph's face didn't mean she wanted to participate in the show.

After the announcement, Steph made very clear we were going together and thankfully she didn't want to perform. The Halloween Ball was the talk of the night and most of the first and second years were pretty upset they couldn't come. Later that night, I was with Albus alone on our dormitory, so I was away from Steph's reach for a while.

"Do you know who you're taking to the ball?" I asked Al.

"I think I'm inviting Louise, from Ravenclaw. She's my partner at Divination. She's pretty nice."

"I still don't understand why you're taking divination this year, again," I said. "Anyway, do you have any other intention with Louise, from Ravenclaw, or she's just your partner at Divination?"

"Divination is not that bad, mate," he answered.

"Are you avoiding my question?" I replied. "Come on, mate. You can tell me if you want to make out with her."

"Ok, maybe I like her a bit. But I'm not trying anything now. I think it's better to wait for the ball to see if it can help me create a good mood," Al admitted. "I just hope she doesn't want me to perform with her."

"Thank Merlin Steph didn't drag me into that," I said. "Rose is going with Bradley, right?"

"Why are you interested?"

"I'm just saying, mate," I rolled my eyes and Al laughed.

"You have a thing for her, don't you?" he asked.

"No, of course not. We are just friends, at least for now," I replied, but Al just kept laughing.

The rest of the month passed and Al and I signed up to help to set up the party. Everything was ready and we just needed to put them on the right place. So, on the last Saturday of October, my friend and I spent the afternoon at the Hall with the Heads, prefects and a few students. There weren't any girls, because they all take too long to get ready. James was there as well and after we were done, he came towards us.

"Hello brother," he said. "Malfoy. Are you excited for the party?"

"Sure," Albus replied a bit curious. James wouldn't talk to us if he didn't want something. "Why exactly are you honoring us with this talk?"

"Honoring? Please, Albus. You're my brother. Can't I talk to you just because I want to?" James replied.

"Hum," Al crossed his arms. "No. What do you want?"

"Ok, maybe you know me a little," James admitted. "I made a bet with some guys and the person who gets more money on the party wins."

"How do you intend to get money? I'm not giving you my money," Albus replied a bit mad.

"Well, that's where you and your friends can help me. We're raising the money, by selling doses of firewhiskey. The main idea is to sell it, make some money and don't get caught. So, if any of you would like to cheer up, look for me and don't buy it from anybody else, okay?" James explained.

"Good luck on that," I said and dragged Albus out of the Hall.

He was a bit upset because he used to get along with his brother and from I what I saw on the Burrow they weren't as close as they used to be. We got back to our common room and we chilled out with the others for the rest of the afternoon. We got ready and Tom and I stayed in the common room waiting for Alice and Steph. Albus went to Ravenclaw tower as Louise had accepted his invitation to the Ball. Steph insisted on matching costumes, so I was dressed as a vampire in green robes. When the girls finally met us, Steph was wearing a green dress and she looked like a beautiful vampire. I took her hand and the four of us went to the Great Hall.

The party had already started and the band of some seventh years was playing. The music wasn't bad and most of the students were already there. Steph and Alice left Tom and me to talk to some other girls and they said they would find us later to dance. Tom and I looked for Albus and we found him with Louise, Camille, her date Sloan, Rose and her boyfriend, Bradley. Rose was dressed as a gypsy. She was wearing a colorful short dress with black heels. She had a red headband, which tied her hair that fell on waves. Her lips were red and the strong black eyeliner made her blue eyes even more evident. She looked… Well, she looked absolutely stunning. Wait! What? Where the hell did that come from? She looked amazing, but she still was Rose. We talked a bit and the party was going pretty well, but for some reason, I couldn't stop eyeing Rose. By the middle of the night, the Heads called our attention to the stage where the show would be. After it, the party would get more exciting with electronic music by some muggle.

Steph found her way towards me and we stayed with Albus and Louise to watch the show. The last group to perform was Rose's. She and her friends danced a muggle song, which I didn't recognize, but it didn't matter. She looked amazing and I didn't take my eyes off of her. Steph mumbled something by my side, but I didn't listen. When they finished, the music started to play again and dance floor was filled with students. Steph dragged me there and we danced, a lot, actually. I saw James passing by with some girls. Albus started dancing with Louise next us, but we got lost in the middle of the crowd. Rose was with Brad not far from us and every time I got the chance I looked at her.

After dancing for a while and when a slow music started to play, we stopped to drink and eat something. We went to the table with food and drinks and I could feel Steph looking at me.

"Are you having a good time?" I smiled.

"Yes… You seem to be having fun as well," she replied colder than I thought.

"What's wrong?" I asked getting some punch.

"Do you honestly think I'm blind?" she continued.

"Hum… No?" I said trying to understand what she wanted.

"Oh Merlin, Scorpius. How can you be so dumb? I saw you staring at Weasley…"

"Which one of them?" I tried to make her laugh, but she wasn't any happier. "Okay, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. She's just my friend."

"But I'm your girlfriend. You should stare at me, not her!" she hissed.

"Steph, come on. It was nothing. If I wanted to be with her, I wouldn't be with you," I replied.

"Then, let me help you," she yelled. "I won't be on your way anymore," she tried to walk away.

"Hey, what do you mean with that?" I held her arm.

"It means we are done, Scorpius," she replied. "You don't have patience with me anymore, you're always trying to run away from me and now you're staring at another girl in front of me. I'm done with this. Please don't bother to talk to me ever again," she ran away.

"Steph wait," I tried to go after her but I already lost her in the middle of the crowd.

After that, my mood for a party was just dead. I got some food and went outside the castle. Steph was probably on our common room and I didn't want to argue with her again. The party was almost over and soon I'd have to go back to the dormitory, but by then, Steph would probably be in bed already. I ate a bit and stayed until Albus found me.

"Finally," I heard him approaching. "Care to tell your best bud what the hell happened?"

"How do you know something happened?" I asked.

"There's a party going on and you're just sitting here and watching the lake," he continued sitting by my side.

"Steph broke up with me," I said.

"I figured," he said. "I saw her making out with someone at some hall. I think it was Sloan."

"Thanks, I totally wanted to know that. It definitely made me feel better," I replied.

"That's why I brought this," he showed me a bottle of firewhiskey. "James was very happy with the payment."

"What about Louise?" I asked him and he opened the bottle.

"She dumped me. She said she only came with me because she wanted to make some guy jealous," he drank from the bottle and gave it to me. "The guy was dressed as a bee. A fucking bee! Can you believe that?"

I laughed and we stayed there drinking. We drank the whole bottle and somehow we managed to get to our dormitory. The result was one hell of a headache on the next morning.