A/N: I am back! Sorry I couldn't update sooner. I do have to tell you: Thank you for your reviews so far! You have helped me and this story enormously. And also, thanks for voting in the poll. Only three more chapters to go if my calculations are correct! I hope you stay to see what happens.

I wanted to share something with you! This story has been nominated at the Next Gen Awards on Live journal! I have no idea how that works, though, I just received the notice for one of the categories. I'd love it if someone can tell me how that works, actually. By the way, I have an account on live journal now, I'm just getting accustomed to it. My user is: paperbackw. I'll be updating there with some extra stuff about this story, so feel free to stop by!

Vinegar and salt

As the holidays went by, Rose learned to live with an unpleasant emptiness inside her stomach, an emptiness that felt like anxiety at times, like pain at others, and very occasionally like despair.

But in spite of the sour taste it left in her mouth at the end of each day, she went on enjoying the company of her family, and savouring every good moment she found in the next days.

For New Year's Eve her Uncles Harry and Ginny threw a party at their house. Her entire family attended, even her uncle Charlie, who spent most of his time dedicated to his rather adventurous work. The Longbottoms were invited as well, which meant that Anya spent most of the evening with Albus and Rose.

There really wasn't much difference from regular New Year's parties. At nine they ate dinner, in so many quantities that everybody felt too full to move or breathe. Around ten Molly, Lucy and Dominique, touched by the zips of Firewhiskey they had stolen from the bar, each sung a different carol at the same time, something that always drove Rose insane. She couldn't understand how her uncle Percy never noticed when his two precious girls were slightly drunk. Around ten thirty George turned on the radio and put the loudest, yet catchiest song he found. It wasn't long until Teddy, whose hair was a bright shade of green, forced Victoire to dance with him. According to her she never danced in public, but it never took much effort on Teddy's side to break her down quickly. At eleven fifteen Rose was still staring at Teddy, and at how he embraced his girlfriend, her head almost hidden in his chest, both moving slowly to a an old, slightly cheesy tune, close to a dark corner of the living room.

She smiled, they had been together for so long, and she had always wondered what it was that made them look so wonderful together. A few years ago, Victoire had moved to France to study and Teddy had stayed in England because of his job. After seeing how much he struggled, Rose knew he would never get over Victoire completely. He never did, even when he was too proud to admit it, and even when he tried to date other girls. It took Teddy and Victoire less than two years to admit to each other that they belonged with one another.

Now Rose wondered, how badly could you love a person? So bad that she wouldn't get on with her life if he were missing from it? Wasn't she alone only a few months ago, wasn't she fancying someone else? Wasn't she ignorant of all that anxiety and doubt that formed nothing but emptiness?

What was there, inside of her chest and stomach, before that emptiness had arrived? She didn't understand how she could suddenly turn her life over one person, and in her case, it was one person she wasn't sure she should fall for.

Anya's laugh startled Rose. She shook her head quickly and looked down at the floor. Albus and Anya were playing exploding snap together. They took turns to play, but the more advanced the game became the fastest the cards went, making it almost impossible for either of them to win the match. As such, Albus suggested for both of them to join forces to fool the game.

Rose contemplated Anya first, her wide, happy smile looking like there was no better place for her to be at that moment. She then looked at Albus and at how oblivious he was about Anya's feelings. Rose didn't really blame him, even when she found it obvious, how could he ever notice when he still looked at her like part of their family? And if Anya didn't ever do anything other than over laugh at his jokes, he would never find out.

The New Year came, and with that Rose was hugged, kissed and given the best of family wishes. She received the tightest of hugs from her mother, and she had to wonder if it had anything to do with the previous circumstances. Her mum wouldn't say it out loud, but she would probably worry for as long as she could.

"We start school in a few days," Anya pointed out later, at two am when the she was sitting on the sofa, close to Rose.

"We do," she absently replied.

"Have you heard from Scorpius again?"

"No, but I'm not expecting to, either."

"Why not?" Anya frowned profoundly.

"I don't know why, I'm just not—he came all the way to my house to see me, but he doesn't write. That's how weird he is."

Anya turned to look at Rose, silently at first. "Well, did you figure out what you're going to do about him?"

Rose nodded. "I've thought about it, yes," she said, by which she meant that it was all she had thought about during the holidays.

"And…"

"I should stop seeing him," Rose said, rather hesitant for her taste.

"What? Are you sure? You just decided it? Just like that?" Anya jumped, her brown eyes opened widely.

"Anya, whose side are you on?" Rose demanded.

"Yours! And, it's just…Rose, you're not even sure. You don't even know if he's the one writing the notes, you don't know anything. You can't just stop seeing him. Everything could be a mistake. You might be making a mistake" Anya declared. Rose turned, surprised at the girl's stunning security. She took her hands to her face.

"I know! You think I don't know that? But it's…all these things! It's him coming here to tell me something and then backing off, it's his reaction to my dad's accident, his reaction to Rodolphus' death, it's lily! Everything! What's all that about?" Rose reacted.

"I don't know, but it might have an explanation."

"I'd like to know it, then," she said, rather upset. Anya's defence towards Scorpius was beginning to annoy Rose. She wasn't making this decision without thinking it through first. But the more thought she gave to the subject, the more it hurt. "Seriously, Anya, what would you do?" Rose asked, then.

"Me? I—well, I wouldn't, I don't—I just think you should talk to him first, that's all."

"Why are you so sure he's innocent?"

"I'm not! But why are you so sure he's guilty of everything!"

"I'm not!" she said in despair. "Anya, it's all too confusing. I have no idea what to think! And he's so mysterious at times, it's kind of terrifying, really."

"You're not afraid of him!" she said. "If anything you're afraid of yourself…with him."

Rose widened her eyes. Anya's down to earth conclusions were beginning to impress Rose, who didn't think Anya could be that determinant about anything.

"I guess," Rose said before sighing profoundly.

Anya twisted her small lips in frustration. Rose observed her. It was like she really wanted her to be with Scorpius, someway. She almost wanted it badly, and Rose didn't know if it was because she was living through Rose and Scorpius; or if on the other hand, the man really inspired her trust. If that was the case then it was a nice change, because she would be the only one besides Rose who trusted him. Everybody else in Hogwarts thought him a freak.

"I'm sure of one thing," Rose continued. "If I'm ever going to put an end to this, I better do it now, before it's too late."

"Too late? Too late for what?"

Rose's heart beat suddenly with desperation. "To stop…anything," she answered sincerely. She wanted to believe that it was still possible for her to feel free without him. She wanted desperately to believe that she wasn't so hooked on him that she would lose strength the minute she saw him again. She wanted to believe that she could stand living with that emptiness in her chest and stomach. "Like you said, I'm afraid of me, with him..."

When Rose finally arrived at Hogwarts, few things were clear. First of all she was clear that she had to put an end to Scorpius' silent game, but of course she had absolutely no idea of how she was going to do that. If she confronted him she could either encourage him to lie or, if he was in fact innocent of everything, she would kill his trust on her.

More than once she was asked by Albus, what she was going to do about Scorpius, but every time she answered him with a simple I don't know yet, and then asked him about Annemarie to change the subject and his attention. Luckily, the trick worked like a charm.

She didn't see Scorpius on the train, or the halls. She had to live with the tempest that took over her stomach the entire afternoon.

That night she entered the Great Hall cautiously, looking straight at her own table. The tempest tormented her progressively. She carefully sat at the Gryffindor table, and with a lot of caution turned her eyes and mind towards the Slytherin table.

What she had defined as a tempest became a hurricane in a matter of seconds. Scorpius' glance was already fixed upon her. Her mind fogged as she looked into his solemn, grey eyes. He gestured with his mouth, it was a smile, a warm rather simple smile. Without thinking she smiled back, poorly, she knew, but authentically at the very least.

She contemplated him for the next minutes, the hurricane eating her rational thoughts, until she heard a throat being cleared next to her.

Rose turned to look at Albus. "What?" she asked dryly.

He gave her what she translated as a hard glare, and looked down at his plate. He shook his head silently and went back to eating. Rose rolled her eyes, she was hoping that Albus didn't become more of a pain than an actual help.

"Hey, isn't it odd that the writer didn't send anything else during the Holidays?"

Albus drank from his cup, and nodded quickly. "It kind of is. And let's just hope he keeps it that way."

"If he stops writing how are we going to figure out who he is?"

Albus looked at her, somewhat harshly, but then he lowered his glare. "I suppose you're right," he said before he looked up, towards the Slytherin table. "Weird, isn't it?"

"What?"

"Scorpius never wrote or went back to your place again."

Rose looked at him, she frowned in concern. She didn't want Albus to say out loud what she thought herself.

"And by that you mean…"

"You know what I mean, Rose, and if I'm right…then I think Rodolphus' death has something to do with it."

Rose's chest went cold, she lowered her eyes, bit her lower lip. "It might also be a coincidence."

He frowned, and looked at her again, but she didn't look straight at his eyes. "And how are you going to find that out?"

She shrugged, poorly. "I don't know but there must be a way. We can't just make assumptions," she said, looking up, at the Slytherin table, and at Scorpius again. "It's not fair," she whispered, tangling her eyes in the sight of him. She knew she was beginning to contradict herself, but she couldn't help it.

Rose was one of the last Gryffindors to leave the Great Hall. She waited until Albus was done saluting some of his friends. She observed him exchanging five quick words with Annemarie and she stood up from the table to leave with him.

Scorpius, on the other hand, had been one of the first to leave the Slytherin table. She had watched him as he stood up, and had shivered when he turned around to glance at her for a moment.

She made it to her common room quietly, and so did Albus, who didn't seem at all happy with the first encounter he had had with his girlfriend.

The thought of seeing him again, touching him, increased the heat of her skin. But, on the other hand, the thought of looking into his eyes and demanding answers to her many questions made her dizzy. She didn't want to enter that dangerous zone, not yet. She didn't want to end things with him without being absolutely sure of what she was doing. And by the look of things she was far from seeing light at the end of the tunnel.

That night, between the anxiety and confusion, she declared herself to be suffering a strong headache and didn't do her rounds. She knew that Scorpius would be waiting for her in one of the school's dark hallways.

The next day Rose attended her regular classes. She went to Herbology with Albus and was impressed by the growth of Mindy, their Mimbulus Mimbletonia. She then took Charms, a class she left fifteen minutes late, because Arabella Slade made her correct an essay that, according to Rose was perfectly fine.

She left the classroom on her own and was directing herself to the Great Hall when she was encountered in the middle of one of the hallways. Her breathing went short immediately.

"There you are," Scorpius' soft but deep voice said.

"Hey," her voice broke, she felt how her muscles tightened, and breathed in softly. She didn't move. Scorpius stood still, only a few steps away from her. He smiled softly but shook his head. "What?" she asked, shrugging.

"You haven't been avoiding me, have you?" he asked, raising his eyebrow in a very inquiring way. Rose bit her lip softly, feeling how red her cheeks were turning. His behaviour was making her feel like a ten year old. She parted her lips but he interrupted. "That pretty much answers it," he nodded dryly.

Rose walked towards him, raising her eyes to observe him intently. It was frustrating how inexpressive his face could become at times.

"You're hard to understand, Scorpius. I've been trying, but I don't think I can," she admitted softly. Scorpius' face changed considerably. He lowered his eyes almost immediately, his expression became stern.

"Is this because—"

"It's you disappearing. You went to my house and then disappeared again. Is that who you are? Is that what you do? Are you always just going to disappear?"

He swallowed, then looked at her eyes again. "No. Not from you, if that's what you're asking," he answered, his voice rough. "But these last days, you had to be on your own."

"You mean you had to be—"

"—No. I mean you. You had a lot to handle with your father's accident. I bet they have all been worried about your family's safety, your safety. I would have complicated things," he explained, tucking his hands in his pockets. "I would have only been helpful to upset your father."

He was, of course, right. After the accident and after the discussion she had had with her dad, it would have been distressful for Scorpius to visit her. Ron had been very clear about his opinion towards the "friendship" they shared together.

Rose wondered into his eyes. "Still, I think there are other ways," she suggested.

Scorpius chuckled, and smiled warmly. He approached her even more, and Rose didn't even try to control the shiver, the shock that conquered her spine, the storm inside her stomach. He breathed in, close to her, like feeling her sense, and she tightened her eyes, just to control herself.

"I missed you," he murmured softly to her ear. She smiled, noticing how fast her strength had crumbled. It was pitiful, sure, but too pleasant to stop. She wanted so much from him; explanations and answers to her numerous questions. But the more she thought of it, the less she wanted to ask. If she compromised him, and she knew she would, he would end up lying to her, he would probably tell her what she wanted to hear. If he had something to hide then he couldn't stop hiding it, not just like that, and not if it involved his family. She was beginning to realize that she was better off in the dark.

He placed his hand under her chin, softly, temptingly, leading her somewhere. He leaned down slowly, and her heart gripped on every corner of her chest.

"We are in the middle of a hallway. Someone will see us," she reminded him, regretting the precaution. Scorpius rubbed his lips over the skin of her cheek.

"I don't care," he roughly said. She chuckled quietly.

"We are keeping ourselves in a low profile," she said again.

"Not anymore," he said, his voice deep in determination. She separated herself only a few inches away, to look into his eyes.

"I thought you wanted it that way."

"I don't," he murmured. "Everybody talks behind our backs, anyway. What's the difference?"

"That is true," she said, biting her lip softly.

Scorpius smiled, before he leaned down completely to press his lips against hers. He held her tightly, and she could tell by now that he controlled his intensity every time he kissed her. It was the way he held her what gave him away, as if trying to sustain not only her, but his own impulses.

Rose gave into the kiss quickly, shutting off the warnings her brain was sending her. Anyone could walk by, a teacher, her cousins, her brother, James…

She cut the kiss quickly, but didn't pull back. Their lips brushed against one another, softly.

"I want to invite you somewhere, tonight," Scorpius then said. Rose frowned intently.

"What are you talking about? It's Monday and it's Hogwarts. Where can we possibly go?"

Scorpius smiled. "You'll see. So?"he inquired again, smirking slightly. Rose shook her head. Her lips approached him, and she kissed his mouth in a sudden move. He breathed in, holding her tightly again, responding vividly to her unpredicted action. Before her head fogged and her lungs ran out of air, Rose separated herself from him, slowly.

"I have to go," she announced. "I'll see you later," she told him.

Scorpius' face had become plain, apparently stunned by the kiss and by her lack of response towards the question. He held her hand when she tried to walk away.

"So? You didn't answer me," he reminded her. Rose grinned.

"I didn't?" she asked, evilly. He released her hand, shaking his head, but his mouth began to twist into a smile.

"I'll meet you at your common," he told her. Rose began to walk backwards.

"I haven't said yes."

He smirked. "I'll be there at seven," he said again, ignoring her previous announcement.

Rose raised her eyebrow.

"Wear something warm," he finally said, and the way he pronounced that last word sent a shiver up her spine.

Rose smiled, turned around and walked away, her heart in her throat, her head postponing the infinite questions she no longer wanted answered.

Rose waited for a prudent moment to walk out of her common room. Even though she would be doing her rounds, according to everyone else, she wanted to hide the coat and gloves she was taking along with her.

She avoided talking to Albus that night, but she knew it wouldn't be long before she had to confront him. Only a few hours ago she had been snogging Scorpius in the middle of one of Hogwarts' hallways and if he was willing to go public with their relationship, then the rumours of them dating would no longer be a rumour.

Before walking outside she stopped to remember what she went through during Christmas; the things she had thought of, the many ways she tried to blame Scorpius' family for what had happened to her dad, the nights she spent thinking that he might be the wrong person to trust. And then, she had to shamelessly admit, that he had pulled a curtain between those thoughts and her feelings. With a slight smile he was able to turn her overanalysing nature into a pointless capacity of jumping into the wrong conclusion.

She closed her eyes, tightly together. He could be the writer, and he could not. He could have been hiding Rodolphus Lestrange in his mansion, and he could not. He could be seducing her with a hidden, dark reason, but maybe, the only hidden reason he had was feeling the same electrifying emotions she was so bad at controlling.

Rose breathed in. It was ten past seven. Rose walked out of the portrait of the fat lady, and into the hall. She stood still when she saw that no one was there, and waited for him to appear.

He did so in less than five seconds, Scorpius walked out of a corner, holding two broomsticks in his right hand. Rose frowned, raised her eyebrow and shook her head.

"You must be joking," she whispered, as she walked towards him.

"I thought you might enjoy the distraction."

"Scorpius, it's freezing out there."

"Nothing that a good coat and a good shielding charm can't fix."

"You're out of your mind," Rose chuckled. "I haven't played in months."

"You don't want that to become a year, do you?"

Rose laughed softly, and bit her lip.

"What?" he said again. "You've played Quidditch in winter thousands of times. Or are you worried that you might be too rusty?" he inquired. Rose opened her mouth in astonishment.

"Give me that broom," she murmured. Scorpius laughed.

They walked silently towards the main entrance of the castle, and then to the Quidditch Pitch. For the first time in over a year she felt the disturbing sensation of having things flying inside her stomach. Something she only felt when she was about to enter a match. The cold weather began to frost the bare skin of her face and soon Scorpius was setting a shielding spell over both of them, so the cold wouldn't bother that much.

Rose studied the place that surrounded them. Snow covered the arena, she looked up, at the hoops, and at how big they seemed with the moonlight shining upon them.

"Ready?" Scorpius asked with a rather warm smile. Rose nodded slowly. She hadn't played Quidditch since the summer with her cousins, and that wasn't enough to stay in shape. Scorpius trained every single night, after all. She carefully got on the broom Scorpius had given her and felt as her feet lifted up from the ground, higher by second, away from the cold snow.

Within seconds she was free to fly, around the hoops, over the seats of each of the houses. She felt the exhilaration, the comfortable happiness, the pleasure of flying. She heard her name being called and when she turned, she saw Scorpius at the other side of the pitch, flying at the same height as her. He carried a Quaffle with him, and threw it in her direction. Rose only had to fly a few more feet to catch the ball. She smiled, flew fast enough to reach the centre of the pitch and threw the Quaffle at him again. Scorpius caught it quickly.

The teasing game lasted over twenty minutes, at times she used all of the speed the broom gave her to fly high over the pitch, something she rarely did. From her high distance she called Scorpius and threw the Quaffle at him, surprising herself with how precise he was at catching it. He flew rapidly and caught up with her.

"Want to call it a break?" he suggested. She shrugged, and followed him as he flew towards Ravenclaw's benches. They threw the brooms in a corner, and sat in what was neutral territory.

Rose's heart was beating aggressively from the exercise, her breathing hadn't returned to a normal state yet, so she took deeps breaths, inhaling the frosty air.

"So, you do this every night," she murmured, looking at Scorpius, who was sitting next to her, breathing deeply in.

"Not this. It's just me, most of the time," he explained.

"How do you get away with it? Every single night you break like five rules by staying out here so late."

Scorpius chuckled. "You know, Rose, you'd be surprised but most of the times those who guard the rules are the first to break them," he smirked.

"What? That's not—" she tried to retort, but then remembered that as a Prefect, she shouldn't be staying outside of the castle at that time of night. "Oh…" she said with a frown.

"Professor Perry knows I'm out here, so I guess, you could say that I'm authorized, if that's really important at all."

Rose shook her head, rolling her eyes. "Of course," she mumbled.

"What? What is it?"

"Just, Professor Perry is the head of the Slytherin house, of course he wants you to practice Quidditch so you can win," she said. Scorpius laughed.

"So? Professor Perry is clever. What's so wrong with that?"

"Clever? That's beyond cleverness. Breaking a school rule to benefit his house is cheating," she said daringly.

"So, you're calling me a cheater," he raised his eyebrow, but smiled as he did so.

"Well, yes. And it's because of things like this that Slytherins have the fame they have," she argued, rolling her eyes again. Scorpius laughed once more, and Rose's cheek suddenly began to feel warm. She frowned at his lack of seriousness. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, I just never thought myself a cheater for practicing till late hours. Isn't that what people do when they want to become the best at something?" Scorpius asked, his voice deep. Rose glanced at him, at the firmness of his grey eyes.

"Well, I—" she mumbled, but then closed her lips, with no real argument to back her up.

"Slytherins are not always what Gryffindors think, you know," Scorpius then said.

"Oh, I know that. Of course I know—"

"Slytherins can be smart, very agile...quick—"

"—Quick?" Rose interrupted. She raised her eyebrow, he grinned.

"Yes," he continued. "We can solve problems, get out of things very easily."

Rose swallowed hard. "That's not quick, Scorpius, that's being slippery."

He laughed softly, shaking his head. "It's just a matter of perspective."

Rose stared at him, the wind was blowing softly, stroking against his bright hair. "Perspective," she whispered. "Is that so?"

Scorpius smiled again. "Yes. Slytherins can be other great things. Problem is…" he stopped, and his face suddenly became plain. She hated when his face lacked of expression.

"What?"

"That sometimes the decisions aren't the best," he finished. Rose lowered her head for a moment.

"Have you made wrong decisions?" she dared to ask, her heartbeat warned of the territory she was entering. But she paid no attention. Scorpius, with a rather elegant move of his head, nodded twice.

He looked up, at the sky for a long minute. Rose didn't follow his eyes, she stayed focused on contemplating him.

"Do you know why I joined Quidditch?" He asked. Rose shrugged lightly. "I wanted to please my parents, my father, mostly."

Rose frowned, parting her lips. "What? Really? But you told me you joined Muggle Studies to upset them," she reminded him.

"That was in third year. Before I entered Hogwarts things were different."

"How different?"

"I admired my father, respected my grandfather. I actually did want to become like them, but that was a long time ago. When I first came to Hogwarts I saw things differently. I got into plenty of trouble that first year because I was a bit more radical than I am now."

The wind blew harder around them, moving his gold locks over his face. Without premeditation, Rose removed the strings of hair that had covered his eyes. He shut his eyes instantly at the sense of her touch, and she took advantage of that to run her fingers down his hair, before removing her hand away from him.

"I thought that maintaining the purity of our blood was the only way to save the Wizarding world. Like them, I believed muggles were cornering us, and we had become less by the years because of them. For ten years that was what I was taught by…my grandfather. He assured me he was preparing me for what was out there. He taught me spells when I wasn't allowed to use magic, and you can imagine how cool that seemed for a seven year old," he finished, a sad smile on his face. He didn't speak more, and Rose breathed deeply before asking her next question.

"Scorpius, what kind of spells?" she said. He turned to see her, looking deeply into her eyes.

"Nothing you learn in Charms class, or Transfiguration. Nothing harmless, Rose," he dryly said. "My grandfather used to say that he wasn't going to make the same mistake he made with my father. He kept repeating he was going to make me strong."

"Strong for what?" Rose asked.

"I never knew the answer to that either," he explained.

Rose swallowed hard. "And your father, what did he—"

"—He never got in the way, but never helped much either. I think he pretended like he wasn't seeing or hearing anything. You can imagine me, an eleven year old entering Hogwarts knowing more dangerous spells than I could handle, and believing things from a past century, things that were no good for anyone."

Rose sighed, nodding softly. "I remember that, everyone was afraid."

"You can't blame them now, can you? I used to fight with kids from my own house for underestimating the things I believed in. I had a bit of an…attitude problem. I did send John Philips to the Hospital Wing. I used a very powerful stunning spell" he explained, lowering his eyes. His face demonstrated that he wasn't proud of any of it. "I had never stunned anyone before."

"What happened? What made you change your mind? Why did you change so much?" Rose asked, fervently. She wasn't realizing how much she was pushing to know more.

Scorpius smiled warmly, before chuckling quietly. He placed his hand under her chin, raising her face a few inches.

"In second year, I began to see things differently."

"Just like that?" Rose interrogated. "One day you woke up and you saw that, everything you knew was wrong?" she asked wisely. She knew that nobody changed that abruptly, unless something really meaningful happened along the way.

"No," Scorpius said holding her chin tightly. "But, you know far too much about me already," he murmured. "I might have to get rid of you now."

Rose's chest froze, but a smile slipped from her lips. She shook her head in disapproval. "You have an awful sense of humour," she said.

"You're smiling, though." Scorpius smirked, releasing her face from his grip.

"Maybe I have an awful sense of humour as well," she explained. Scorpius laughed, and the sound made Rose smile widely.

"The point is that I loved this sport too much to leave it. And what about you? Why did you join Quidditch?"

She raised her eyebrow, catching the way he was evading the end of that conversation. Rose sighed strongly. "Well, actually I did it to please my dad too," she admitted. "He was really excited with the idea of me playing in the team, so I did it," she shrugged. "And I enjoyed it so much that I stayed in the team for two years."

"You quit the team last year, though," he pointed out. "I was surprised to see another person playing chaser in your place. I wasn't sad, though. The new chaser was easier to fool."

Rose chuckled. "Is that so? So you were happy that I dropped out?" she laughed, pretending to be highly insulted.

"As any Slytherin player would have been," he teased. Jane isn't as good as you, and that's great for me," he said in a shrug. Rose looked at him. She smiled softly when she detected the compliment.

"Thanks, I think."

A quiet laugh left his mouth. "So, why did you quit?"

"Well, Quidditch was fun but I had other priorities."

"Other priorities?"

"Yes, our OWLs. I already take more classes than I should. Third and fourth year were tough to handle having Quidditch practice all the time. So, in fifth year I decided to focus more on my extra classes and my Owls rather than a sport I won't be playing professionally."

"I see. And your parents had absolutely no problem with you leaving the team?"

"Mum understood. Dad...I think dad almost had a heart attack."

"That bad, huh?"

"It was awful, I'm surprised he didn't cry. But in the end, as much as my dad tries to impose, he always ends up letting us choose for ourselves," she said, realizing how imprudent her comment had come out.

He nodded, somewhat sadly. "That's really cool," he said then. Rose's cheeks went warm again, she didn't want to brag about how understanding her parents where, not in front of him. But again, he changed the direction of the conversation, as smoothly as ever. "And what's even cooler is that now I don't get hit by your savage throws," he said.

Rose laughed, taking her hand to her face, deep in embarrassment.

"That was only once!" she said. "And it was a long time ago…"

"Fourth year," Scorpius pointed out. "Second week of…March."

Rose raised both of her eyebrows. "That's specific, " she said weakly, her neck and cheeks burning.

Scorpius grinned. "You don't have to get red, everybody remembers the first time they get beaten up by a girl," Scorpius shrugged plainly.

Rose opened her mouth, drowning in embarrassment again. She knew her cheeks were red, and she hated that she could do nothing about it. "I'm not red!" she lied poorly. "And I—I did not beat you up!" she said, attempting to slap his shoulder. He moved his arm in a quick move, and took her hand.

"Rose," he calmly said, a grin spread across his face, while Rose tried to free her arm from his grip. "You threw a Quaffle, straight at my head, you knocked me unconscious into the arena, you sent me to the Hospital Wing. I think you beat the bloody hell out of me," he smoothly said. Taking her other hand firmly, making sure she couldn't release herself from him at all.

"I—it was an accident!"

"Was it really?" he inquired, questioning her with his deep eyes, smirking this time. "You won the match after that. Your cousin Lily caught the Snitch. The team didn't let me forget it for the following weeks, and the whole thing gave Jasmine enough material to tear the mickey out of me for the next months."

"Still! It was an accident!" she assured. Scorpius laughed, Rose rolled her eyes at him. She stopped putting resistance to his grip.

She had apologized, as any honourable player would, and he had accepted her apology as any honourable Slytherin would. But obviously, he hadn't forgotten about it.

"I know," he whispered at her. "You are too correct to cheat, or to play it dirty."

"What do you mean I'm too correct?"

He shrugged. "That you play by the rules, what else would I mean?"

"Yes, but the way you said it made me sound like an old made from the seventeenth century," she argued, trying to release herself again.

Scorpius laughed loudly, which was a very rare, but wonderful sound. "There's just no pleasing you, is there?" he asked, letting both of her wrists go. She looked at him, deeply.

"You'd be surprised. Gryffindors are not always what Slytherins think, you know," Rose said, with a rather self-sufficient tone of voice.

Scorpius chuckled, widening his eyes. He shook his head at her response, and bit his lower lip as he gave her a very wide grin. Rose knew she was blushing, but she smiled all the same.

"You really are something…" he told her. "And what is it that I don't know about Gryffindors? According to you."

"Well, we are not about playing by the rules all the time."

"See, Rose, I wasn't talking about Gryffindors, I was talking about you. You are the one who plays by the rules. Gryffindors tend to be imprudent most of the time, if you ask me. From what I know courage leads them to revelry."

Rose stared at him, stunned by his last statement and found nothing better to do but exhale loudly. Scorpius looked at the pitch, the moonlight gave it a perfect lightning.

"Are you up for a match? One on one?" he asked. Rose looked at him for a moment. She didn't answer, she stood up and picked the broom she was using.

In less than a few minutes Rose had flown over the pitch, holding the Quaffle with one arm. Meanwhile, Scorpius looked for a position in front of the hoops. He nodded once he was ready. Rose flew across the field, enjoying the cold breeze of the night. Scorpius' charm had worked perfectly. Her body felt warm enough for her to enjoy the weather.

She decided to fly in circles at first, then across the pitch again, anything to distract him, and stop him from being ready for her attack. Finally, after long, teasing minutes she decided to fly down in a fast move and throw the Quaffle towards the right hoop. Scorpius, faster than she imagined, flew and caught the Quaffle, a smile spreading across his face.

For the next twenty minutes Rose did her best effort to score points, while Scorpius' efforts were focused on stopping her. She scored six times, but Scorpius stopped at least ten of her attempts. Her arms and legs began to hurt, but the adrenaline had taken over her, possessing her completely.

She flew in circles, as fast as the broom allowed her, and from the distance aimed for the centre hoop. The ball travelled fast, straight at Scorpius. He could have moved to a side, to stop the hit that was sure to come, but his ambition to stop it was stronger, and he tried to catch the flying Quaffle. The ball touched his hand abruptly, almost slid through his fingers, and fell to hit his shoulder, something that provoked him a loss of balance. Rose watched him as he fell from his broom and onto the snowy arena.

She gasped, flying down towards the place he had fallen to. She landed, threw the broom to one side and ran towards him. She immediately saw that he was moving, and felt an immense relief.

"Scorpius! Are you okay?" she loudly said, panting as she reached him. He was lying in the snow, facing down. She took his shoulder when she reached him. And he pushed himself up with his arms, groaning. He turned around, lying on the snow with his face up. He, too, was panting.

"I can't believe it," he said, as he tried to catch a deep breath. "You knocked me down, again!" he said. His hair buried in the snow, his eyes focused vacantly on the sky.

"I'm so sorry!" she whispered exasperatedly, kneeling down, and placing her hands on his cold face. "I'm so…so sorry!" she insisted, caressing his cheeks and forehead.

Scorpius' eyes focused on her, he breathed in. "At least this time you didn't knock me unconscious," he said. Taking one hand to his face, where he found and held her hand tightly. With a fast move he used his other hand to grab her waist and pulled her rapidly towards him. She lost her balance, and fell on top of him involuntarily.

"You idiot!" she said out loud, struggling in vain. "I thought you were hurt!"

Scorpius laughed. "I am! You hit my shoulder, and did you see how fast you threw that Quaffle? That was cold blood murder," he teased.

"Shut up," she mumbled, holding back a laugh. He held her waist against him, even more firmly, and she felt short of breath instantly. The distance between their faces was so short that she could taste his breath. He smiled, and she chuckled quietly. "I forgot how much I love Quidditch," she suddenly said to him, still panting. Every time her chest expanded she felt his chest moving. Scorpius tightened his grip around her, and Rose felt her body relaxing over him, her lips suddenly closer to the cold skin of his face.

"You mean, you forgot how much you love beating the hell out of me," Scorpius said.

Rose laughed softly. "That too," she said, sighing strongly. "I'm exhausted."

"To be honest, I'd be awfully scared if you weren't," he said, sighing as well, his head had found comfort on the snow, his hands held her tightly, like preventing a fall that was impossible, for she was perfectly positioned.

"But, it's a good exhausted. No, great," she continued, sensing that her heart hadn't stopped it's fast beating yet, and her breathing hadn't gone back to normal. The adrenaline had settled to live in her veins, and she loved it. "It's like I have so much energy bottled up, and it's reserved for something like this. I don't even know where it comes from, but playing Quidditch just makes it, you know, it gives you this adrenaline, this—oh god, it's amazing. You know what I'm talking about, right?"

She looked at his eyes, his face had frozen in the moment. But he reacted quickly and nodded slowly.

"Of course, I know...what you mean," he said, his voice suddenly rough. She smiled when she heard that he understood her.

"I can't believe I went on for a year without this. A year! I have to do it more often," she said, and noticed him raising his eyebrow, but paid no attention. "I mean, can you possibly imagine anything better than this? Can you imagine a better way of investing all your energy? Up to a point where every single bone of your body is completely exhausted? There can't be anything better." She stopped talking when she read the expression of his face. Underneath of her she felt that his chest had stopped moving, like he was holding his breath. His eyes had frowned in the strangest way.

After a minute of an awkward silence she finally begun to understand how uncomfortable he had become, and instead of saying whatever it was that was on his mind, he was swallowing hard.

"What I meant was—I mean, it was a good game. I wasn't talking about anything else. That's all, just," she pushed herself up, and he released her from his embrace.

Scorpius breathed in, deeply, painfully even, and rose his body up to sit on the snow.

"I know, I know," he said, clearing his throat, Rose did the same.

They sat quietly on the snow, in the middle of the Quidditch pitch. Rose glanced at him briefly now and then, Scorpius' eyes had become distant again.

"How's your shoulder?" Rose asked. Scorpius turned to look at her.

"It's fine," he shrugged. Rose shook her head and her hand reached for his left, injured shoulder. She placed her palm over it softly.

"It hurts, doesn't it?" Rose asked while feeling the tension of his muscle. Scorpius closed his eyes for a moment.

"Just a bit," he admitted. "I'll be fine."

Rose nodded quietly, her hand had settled on his neck, slowly rising towards his face, and finally running under his hair. Scorpius stared at her intently for the next seconds. It wasn't long until he leaned his head down to kiss her. Her impulse made her hold herself tightly to his neck, and felt him groaning silently. She then realized that she was probably hurting his injured muscle, and wasn't really admitting how bad it hurt.

She tried to let go of the pressure she was putting on him, but Scorpius held her with even more strength when he took her by the waist with both hands and slid her over the snow, and close to his warm body. Their lips separated, but only for a split moment. She tightened her embrace around his neck, and felt an unexplainable pleasure when she felt that his skin was shivering.

Finally, their lips separated again, their eyes closed, the skin of their cheeks brushing against each other. "I think I could stay all night out here," Rose admitted through a soft whisper. She felt Scorpius chuckling softly. She opened her eyes to admire his quiet grin.

"If I were to spend the night with you," his low, rough voice said. "I'd choose a very different place. Less wind, less snow, absolutely no Quidditch."

His grin became a smirk, and Rose's chest suddenly vibrated. She smiled, every layer of her skin burning.

"No Quidditch?" she asked, faking a very innocent voice.

Scorpius shook his head. "You'd get distracted," he said to her ear. She laughed softly, biting her lower lip.

"It's late," she reminded him. Scorpius nodded, and pressed his cold lips against her mouth before releasing her completely. He stood up and she saw his expression turning painful again.

"Your shoulder hurts. Are you sure you're alright?" she asked him.

"I'm fine," he said again, extending his arm to help her get up.

The next day started off as any other would. Except for Rose's unexplainable wide grin, everything was normal. The night before she had entered her common room as discreetly as possible. She noticed that Chassity was awake when she came in her room, but neither of them said anything to each other, and Rose preferred it that way.

During breakfast she could barely eat anything. She aimed for an apple and a glass of juice, her anxiety was killing her appetite. She looked a couple of times at the Slytherin table and exchanged quick glances with Scorpius.

Albus, on the other hand, had concentrated on eating. Rose noticed that he had entered the Great Hall and had not even looked towards the Hufflepuff table. As a matter of fact, it was Annemarie the one who kept glancing at Albus that morning, while his eyes looked only at his breakfast, and his mouth remained silent.

"Really, Al, what's the matter?" Rose asked. "Annemarie doesn't take her eyes off you, have you even talked to her since we got back?"

Albus looked at Rose and shook his head, then kept eating.

"Fine," Rose said, sighing impatiently.

After a few minutes Albus set his forks on the plate, even before finishing and looked at his cousin again. "She's mad, that's what the matter is."

"What?"

"One day she's all over me, she barely lets me breathe, the other she needs her space. What the bloody hell is that? What am I supposed to do? Wait around for the good days and pretend like she doesn't exist the rest of the time?"

Rose widened her eyes. "I don't know Al."

"And you're a girl. So, if you don't know then there's no hope left for me."

"Actually, with that kind of behaviour, it seems like not even she knows what she wants."

Albus stared at her plainly, like admitting silently that she had nailed it with that conclusion.

Rose spent the morning anticipating her next encounter with Scorpius. She didn't share any of the morning lessons with him, and after two very busy periods she found herself at the Great Hall getting ready for lunch. Albus had entered the hall with her, but Annemarie had intercepted them. With a very sceptic face he agreed to have lunch at her table.

But Rose wasn't left alone for more than a couple of minutes. Soon Anya was standing next to her asking if she could join her. Rose knew that Anya couldn't handle Albus and Annemarie together, mainly because Annemarie used that time to show her boyfriend off to the rest of the girls at the table.

"Escaping bad company?" Rose asked her. Anya looked at her with rather naive eyes. She nodded and Rose decided not to push her into admitting the obvious. Instead she picked up a random conversation that distracted Anya from her suffering.

They walked out of the Great Hall chattering about the funniest things that happened during the New Year's Eve party. Rose was about to tell Anya that she had to run off to Muggle Studies when an old, black bird with reddish eyes intercepted them. Rose froze, watching the owl, which had suspended in the middle of the air, waiting for her to take the rolled parchment that was hanging from its paw.

But Rose didn't react, and it was Anya the one who untied the paper, and the bird flew away as soon as it could. Anya handed the parchment to the stupefied Rose. She had forgotten about the writer, she had actually imagined that she wouldn't have to worry about him anymore.

Rose took the piece of paper, unrolled it and read the line to herself, then out loud.

"They are watching you from above," Rose said, her voice breaking. There was a stiff silence that lasted a few minutes.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Anya asked. Rose shook her head.

"It sounds—I don't know but it sounds like a complaint."

Anya looked at Rose, the girl's eyes had widened. "Rose, you don't suppose that he really wants to hurt you, do you?"

"Anya, it sounds like he has been after me and for some reason he wasn't capable of catching me."

"But, the other letters, they were so—different."

Rose rolled the paper again, her heart beating rapidly. "I have a class, I'll see you later," she said, hearing how nervous her voice sounded.

She reached the Muggle Studies' classroom rather fast. Her legs had moved on its own, because her mind had been caught up on the many things she had been postponing. She couldn't allow this to be a problem again, it wasn't an option. She wasn't willing to spend the next months receiving anonymous notes that were sure to turn worse.

Albus was right. That person, whoever he was, couldn't have the best of intentions, and she had to be aware of that. She had to prevent that the writer wasn't in fact Scorpius.

"Hey!" her voice rapidly said, her pulse already fighting against her throat. She had ran into Scorpius at the entrance of the classroom.

"Are you alright?" was the first thing he asked her. "You're pale." He took the back of his hand, and caressed her cheek softly.

"I'm fine, just—I didn't eat much today," she answered. Scorpius frowned, but said nothing else. He leaned down and pressed his lips briefly against hers. Rose stopped breathing for those brief seconds, and when he leaned back she looked around, at the people who were entering the classroom, all of them looking at them indiscreetly.

Rose wondered into his eyes for a moment, like searching for any possible answers in his firm, intent look. But she found nothing new.

She couldn't torture herself any longer. She couldn't keep thinking that his intentions were cruel, because the thought of it was beginning to tear her inside. And she couldn't just stop looking at him, kissing him, feeling him, now more than ever she knew how much she needed all of it. If Scorpius wasn't the mysterious writer, then he could even become a protector instead of a threat.

She wondered how much simpler it would have been if she had forgiven Patrick and hooked on to that relationship. She remembered how he made her feel once, the Goosebumps she felt when he kissed her, the smiles he got out of her. But she was too honest with herself. She could never, ever go back there, not after Scorpius. What Patrick once gave her were small butterflies flying inside her stomach. Scorpius was something else. No more butterflies, only hurricanes powerful enough to fog her head, taking everything that was on their way. It was fearful, and it could also become devastating if she lost control. She was entering the centre, the heart of it all, the eye of the hurricane, and she was enjoying every second of it.

The only thing she had left at this point was to trust him blindly. The only other option she had was to exile him from her life completely, and she wasn't considering it anymore, for that would involve the return of that emptiness she hated so badly.

She came to a final conclusion. If trust was all she had left, then so be it.

A/N: If you want to know more about Scorpius and Rose's Quidditch match in fourth year, you can turn to my story: Small moments, big meanings.

Artist: Hooverphonic

Lyrics:

I...like the things that you hate
And you...hate the things that I like
But it hurts
Honesty's your church
But sometimes
It's better to lie
I...am the vinegar and salt
And you...are the oil that dissolves
My frustration
Honesty's limitation
But sometimes
It's better to lie
I am the vinegar and salt
And you are the oil that dissolves my frustrations
Limitations
But sometimes...
I don't dare to ask why