A/n: Happy Christmas everyone! Hope Santa gives you everything you want this time around! Make sure to leave him something nice to eat!

And with this, we've reached the half way point to this story! Phew, we've come a long way, haven't we?

While you're here reading this, two shoutouts: go check out my Scorose Christmas one-shot A Thousand Years! And let me know what you think of it on the reviews!

And second, read Black Hearts by NightmarePrince! It's also a Scorose fic and you'll know why I've recommended it once you read it! It is absolutely fantastic, you have my word!

This chapter is not themed Christmas, but coincidentally the very first line mentions it!

Hohoho and a mountain load of gifts!

P.s, this is an extra long chapter so have fun with that!

Lots and lots of love~

Chapter 20

Hasty

(Rose's Heart)

The incident in the library had taken place exactly a week before Christmas break; which meant that neither Scorpius nor Rose could share more than half a dozen hurried words whenever they happened to pass each other in the hallways. What with the amount of homework the teachers were piling on them and their Prefect duties, she barely had the time to eat or sleep, much less daydream about the kiss she and Scorpius had shared. But on the off chance that she did think about it, she hurriedly pushed it out of her mind, biting her lip to stop herself from grinning down at her homework like an utter fool.

She had hoped that maybe she would get to spend a little more time with him before leaving, but with no luck. Even on the train journey home for Christmas, they had to patrol the corridors and her shift and his never matched, meaning when she had finished her shift and gone to see if he was free, he had just started his, and by the time he had finished his, the Hogwarts Express was already pulling into King's Cross Station.

The two weeks at the Burrow passed by in a blur. Whenever she could slip away, she would hole herself up in her father's old room and stare dreamily outside the window, content with doing silly things like writing hers and Scorpius's names in the fog her breath created against the glass. After the time when Ginny almost caught her, she started to use rune symbols instead of English letters.

Speaking of letters, neither of them had written to each other throughout the break and although Rose fretted about it constantly, she contented herself with imagining that the reason why he didn't write to her was because his words and feelings couldn't be expressed through a piece of parchment (she was actually spot on). So as she finally arrived back in school two weeks later – still not having seen Scorpius as he had returned four days earlier as his parents were leaving to Moscow – her eyes flitted to every corner and every tall blond until Albus finally snapped at her in irritation.

She had almost lost hope of seeing Scorpius any time soon, till that evening, when the new patrol schedule was handed out. Her heart leaped when she saw that the Fifth year Slytherins and Gryffindors had joint patrols every Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays – starting that Wednesday - with Sixth year Hufflepuffs and – her heart fell slightly – Ravenclaws. So that meant they'd have to constantly keep am eye out for Olivia along with the usual petty offenders.

But thankfully, other than on Fridays, their paths didn't cross with the Sixth years – who were in charge of patrolling the ground floor, first and second floors, while the Fifth years were in charge of the three floors above.

So she waited with an incurable sense of anticipation, bouncing up and down throughout the day, as Wednesday night finally approached. The second dinner was done, she rounded on her fellow Gryffindor Prefect – Christopher Revels - and begged him to partner with the female Slytherin Prefect – Cynthia Haight. He didn't look too happy with the arrangement, but when she promised to set him up on a date to Hogsmeade with Olivia Barnes – it was quite easy really, just tell her Scorpius was waiting for her and she'd traipse off happily without question – and she finally waited with bated breath at the end of the corridor that led to the dungeons.

Scorpius emerged a minute later, chatting amicably with his fellow Prefect, before his eyes fell on Rose and his face split into a delighted grin. Completely forgetting that he had still been in mid-conversation, he hurried over to her, enveloping her in a brief hug. The other two made off – the Slytherin girl a little reluctantly – and Scorpius beamed at Rose.

"Hi."

"Hi," she replied, breathily, feeling her face getting hot. Scorpius fell into step beside her and motioned toward the hallway with a flourish.

"After you, my lady."

Rose giggled and stepped forward and Scorpius was instantly by her side, grinning as he looked straight ahead. They walked in companionable silence for a while, unwilling to disturb the peace and quiet of the Hogwarts hallways at night. After two hours of patrolling the fifth floor, they moved onto the one below it, talking in low tones about their holidays and everything they'd missed out in each other's lives since the year had started.

After a while they reached the Third floor, and they walked in silence, suddenly realising that their patrol was coming to an end. Rose belatedly wondered why they hadn't crossed paths with the other two Prefects – one pair patrolled from the top floor downwards and the other pair patrolled the bottom floor and went upwards, meaning they would inevitably meet somewhere in the middle so they could exchange notes or warn the other two about places where students seemed to be lurking – but the four had never bumped into each other, which Rose found weird.

Scorpius seemed to share the sentiment, because he pondered quietly as he walked beside her. There was a sudden noise behind them, from one of the empty classrooms and they immediately spun on their heels, drawing their wands out and creeping up along the wall. The door to the classroom was cracked open and Rose put her eye to it, trying to make out the shapes inside, but it was too dark. She and Scorpius exchanged glances and after Scorpius mouthed to three, they burst into the room, their wands held out in front of them, the tips throwing light across the room from non-verbal Lumos spells and Scorpius said rather loudly,

"Hold it right there!"

The two shadowy figures in the front of the classroom froze and Rose bit back a sigh as she noted that they were older students, probably Fifth or Sixth years. As the pair drew closer, Scorpius moved his wand slightly and the blue light caught the girl's hair – which looked like a pale, silvery colour – and Rose found something vaguely familiar about it. It took them a little longer than anticipated, to slowly make their way through the many desks and benches without taking their eyes off the two in the front of them and not bump into the furniture. Finally, they reached the two and Rose gasped, while Scorpius stiffened beside her.

"You," Scorpius hissed in disgust, his wand shivering.

Olivia smirked back at him, her already pale skin looking like ceramic in the light and her violet eyes were a dark, creepy shade of black. She giggled in a shrill, high-pitched way, turning to face them. Rose immediately blanched.

The girl's blouse was open and she wore nothing underneath. Her skirt was pushed so high up her legs, she was basically naked. There was sharp intake of breath beside her and Rose glanced sideways to see that Scorpius had directed his wand toward the person standing behind Olivia – who happened to be Thomas Trevor, the Sixth year Gryffindor Prefect – and was pointedly looking away from the exposed girl. Olivia was watching Scorpius closely, the smirk still in place and Rose felt herself swell with anger, as she flicked her wand, wordlessly casting a spell for the buttons of her blouse to close shut and her skirt to straighten out to its full length upto her knees.

"Get up," Rose said in a low voice, motioning for Olivia to move with her wand. The blonde didn't even look phased by the fact that she – a Prefect - had been caught red-handed committing an indecent act at the dead of night, completely disregarding and breaking every rule in the book. Her eyes still on Scorpius, she sidled off the desk, brushed past a rigid Scorpius and sauntered toward the door. Rose followed her with disgust, her wand pointed straight at the part-Veela's back. She heard Scorpius grab Trevor – who looked dazed and confused - by the collar and push him toward the door as well, taking the path on the other side of the one Rose and Olivia were taking, so Trevor didn't make a sudden dash toward the girls or the door.

They made their way down the dimly lit hallways, as the first rays of sunlight began to appear through the windows. After depositing the two in front of the entrance of the Headmistress' office and giving the password, they made sure the duo went up the spiraling staircase and made their way back toward the corridor that split off towards their respective Common Rooms.

They paused for a moment and Rose looked up into Scorpius's shimmering, albeit tired, silver eyes and he flashed his rare smile at her, reaching up to tuck a loose strand of hair, that had escaped her ponytail, behind her ear. He stalled for a moment and then gently stroked her cheek with his thumb. She felt herself flush and bit her lip, satisfied to see the way his eyes traveled down to her mouth and widened. He swallowed and snapped his eyes back up to hers. She stepped closer, slowly reaching up on her toes to kiss him, just as he bent lower…

But the moment was shattered by the sound of students trooping down to the Great Hall for breakfast and the two abruptly pulled apart, said hasty goodbyes and retreated to their respective Common Rooms. She hoped beyond hope that she would catch him some time soon and get some lunch together or the like, but even she knew the improbability of that happening, as she trudged into her dorm and mechanically began dressing herself.

By Friday, the entire school knew about the fiasco with Olivia – it still unnerved Rose by how fast news traveled to so many students so quickly – and she had been stripped of her Prefect's badge, along with all the duties, responsibilities, benefits and what was left of her dignity. But she was seen sauntering around in much the same way as before, seeming slightly more threatening because she unabashedly flaunted her Veela powers at everyone within a three meter radius of her.

Luckily for Trevor, Rose and Louis and the other two Prefects had supported him greatly and Rose stated clearly in her report that he had obviously been affected by Olivia's Veela powers. McGonagall finally let him off with several severe detentions and punishments, as he had apparently blabbered the whole truth the second he had reached the Headmistress' office.

But the worst part of the whole Olivia incident, was that Louis had found out about Scorpius and Rose's little arrangement – as he liked to call it – and had immediately taken measures to see that the wouldn't partner together. Which meant Rose was stuck with her Head Boy cousin for every patrol until the end of the year. She hadn't gone down without a fight though.

"Louis!" she yelled, storming up to the lounging blonde and waving the piece of parchment in her hand.

He looked up from his book, curiously. "Yes?"

"What is this rubbish?"

He eyed the parchment and a slow, amused smile played on his face. "A piece of—"

"I swear, I will hit you if you finish that sentence."

Louis simply shifted into a more comfortable position and eyed his younger cousin lazily. "Is there a problem?"

"Yes! Why am I paired with you on every patrol?!"

"Ah.. that," he said casually, as though they were commenting on the weather. Rose's face heated up and she glowered down at him.

"Louis Weasley, I've had quite enough of your cheek!"

Louis' eyes flashed but the lazy smile remained on his face. He tilted his head at her and raised his eyebrows. "What's got you so flustered, Rosie? Is it so bad that you get to patrol with your beloved brother?"

Rose opened her mouth but Louis cut her off with a quiet, "Or is it because you've been disregarding my instructions and have been having fun with Scorpius Malfoy?"

Rose shut her mouth and swallowed. So he had been angry about that after all. "I—it was only that one time… because we barely get to see each other anymore and—"

"Doesn't matter. You'll be with me starting today," he said with finality, turning back to his book.

Rose fumed and spinning on her heel, stomped out the Portrait Hole. Of the three siblings, Louis was always the one Rose could never handle. She could get both Dominique and Victoire to listen to her, but when it came to Louis… the boy had this sort of self-imposed demeanor of superiority that kept everyone at bay and made their every argument invalid. Bill was probably the only one that could get Louis to obey him unconditionally.

She huffed, slumping down beside her cousin at the Slytherin table and stealing his Cauldron Cake. She wished that night never came.

But it inevitably did, and she dragged her feet as she walked beside Louis – who was supplying her with a soft, constant flow of chatter that she really did not want to listen to. She had been replaced by the Head Girl – Jena Sarver from Hufflepuff – who was currently patrolling the fifth floor corridor with Revels. She wasn't sure which floor the Slytherin Fifth years had been asked to patrol, but continued to pray that she would bump into Scorpius by chance.

Her chance came with a bit of ill luck, as they spotted Cynthia running toward them, a terrified expression on her face. She came to a stop a few feet away and began to speak immediately, barely able to get her words around the wheezing and panting. Louis Conjured a glass of water and she gulped it down, intent on conveying whatever made her run all the way there.

"Thank goodness I found you," she gasped, as Louis magicked the glass into nothingness. "It's horrible—he was right there and—and I saw him! And then he was gone and I—I looked everywhere!"

Louis laid a consoling hand on her shoulder and looked at her meaningfully. "You're Cynthia, right?" When she nodded, he continued, "Alright, I want you to tell me exactly what happened. Who disappeared where?"

Rose's heart was already racing, her mind whirling with worst case scenarios, already guessing who Cynthia was talking about, but when the girl choked out Scorpius's name, she felt her chest clench painfully. Scorpius really had a knack of being in the wrongest places at the wrongest times, if last year's near death incident wasn't proof enough of it.

"We were patrolling the Third floor corridors and we were searching the classrooms from opposite ends," she spoke in a rush, like she couldn't afford to waste a second longer, "and I could hear him at the other end, opening and closing doors… but suddenly it got really quiet and I thought for a moment that maybe he'd finished already, which was not possible, now that I think about it, considering the sheer amount of rooms…" she trailed off, shaking her head and staring at a spot on the ground. Louis urged her to continue.

"And then I looked back and—" she shook her head, eyeing the older boy fearfully, her eyes pooling with tears, "—he was gone! Just like that! I thought maybe he'd gone into one of the classrooms and I checked every one of them but—" She shook her head, trembling, "he had completely disappeared! And I know for a fact that it's impossible to vanish into thin air anywhere inside the school grounds…"

Louis cast her a thoughtful look, as though expecting her to say more. But when she didn't, he nodded, Conjured his Patronus – which was a female Kangaroo – and sent it off to inform the other Prefects and the Head Girl. He then nodded at the two of them and said, "Stay here. I'll go ask the Portraits if they saw anything."

They watched him walk away and Rose drew closer to Cynthia, reaching out to hold the girl's clammy hand in hers. The green-eyed Slytherin looked up at her with an expression that said she hadn't told Louis the full truth.

"What is it," Rose urged gently and Cynthia said hesitantly,

"I think it's Olivia…"

Rose frowned. "You think what's Olivia?"

The other girl shook her head. "I didn't say this before, because I had a feeling that Weas—Louis would immediately go looking for her and not Scorpius. He doesn't seem to like Scorpius very much, does he?"

Rose had to purse her lips at that because it was probably more than partly true. Louis, who was generally very pleasant and good to everyone, irrespective of house or age, had treated Scorpius the best among all her cousins – after Albus – until the incident the previous year. She didn't know whether he was frightened that Scorpius would get Rose into some sort of trouble again or just decided he didn't like the blond in general, but his immediate reaction to the knowledge of her patrolling with Scorpius seemed to prove that he didn't trust the other boy one bit.

"Why do you think Olivia has anything to do with this?"

Cynthia looked toward Louis – who was chatting amicably with a Portrait down the corridor – and said slowly, "We actually happened to see her about twenty minutes before Scorpius disappeared."

Rose's mouth fell open. No matter how much Louis disliked the blond, there was no reason to hide something this big from him!

Cynthia continued without noticing Rose's expression. "She was standing outside the Clock Tower Entrance and just, sort of, staring off into space. Her back was to us so she probably didn't notice us coming, but when she did—" Cynthia shook her head and paled "—it was so creepy, seeing her just standing there in the dead of night. And when she turned to look at us…her eyes had this hollow look in them and she was so pale… almost like a ghost, and her mouth was constantly moving, like she was talking to someone only she could see or like she was muttering some incantation or something…"

Cynthia wrapped her arms around herself in shivered. "It was like she was staring right at us but not really seeing us. We didn't know what to do. We thought she may be sleep walking, so Scorpius didn't want to disturb her or wake her up, so we just stood there. And then she suddenly smiled in this eerie, dead-person sort of way and it really freaked us out. I suggested we just leave her be and come back to check on her once we finished our rounds… Scorpius agreed so we just left and…" she had been shaking her head the whole time, like she regretted not hexing Olivia on sight.

Just then Louis' Patronus galloped up to him and after a moment, disappeared. The Head Boy walked briskly toward them, his lips pressed together in a thin line.

"Listen, I want you to return to your Common Rooms and go to bed—" both the girls immediately exclaimed in outrage, but Louis simply held his hand up and directing his gaze at Rose said, "It might not be safe. I'm sending all the girls back. If you want to help, I suggest you go wake Professor Slughorn, Professor Milnes (who was head of Ravenclaw) and Professor McGonagall and tell them that two students are missing."

Rose gasped, clasping her hands to her mouth. Cynthia was shaking her head resolutely. Louis shot them a small smile and strode down the hallway, his robes billowing behind him. Rose watched him for a moment and then grabbing Cynthia's hand, dragged her in the direction of the Headmistress' office.

Within a half hour, the three Professors had rounded up all the Prefects, the Heads and the other teachers and they had commenced a full-blown search of the castle. After the majority of the female Prefects declared their outrage at being left out of the search, it was decided that either a male Prefect or a teacher would escort every girl. It was an unnecessary precautionary measure that was put forth - that no girl could wander in the corridors after curfew, alone - after several 'incidents' that had taken place after the War.

She was currently patrolling the grounds with Albus – who had been woken up and dragged out by Cynthia without the teachers' knowledge, and after a heated discussion, they finally allowed him to partake in the search, because Louis had said it wouldn't harm to have extra help – and Neville. Neville had already thoroughly searched the Greenhouses before joining them, so they were combing the edge of the Forbidden Forest, making their way toward Hagrid's hut.

The Gamekeeper had retired from teaching two years ago and the position had been taken over by a very unfriendly woman called Yasmine Hitchins, although Hagrid made it a point to oversee all her classes. "Can' trus' these youngins, I'm tellin' yeh," he'd said.

Hagrid waved tiredly at them from outside his hut and asked as they drew closer, "Any news yet, Neville?"

Neville shook his head and said solemnly, "If Professor Milnes' group and Professor Slughorn's group don't find any trace of them around the lake or the Whomping Willow…" he trailed off, glancing wearily toward the eerie path that led into the Forbidden Forest.

Hagrid coughed and shook his head, looking old. "Whas' Hogwarts come to, wi' all these attacks and disappearing studen's and what not."

Neville laughed shakily. "Professor McGonagall's in a right state. Doesn't know what she'll tell the Malfoys. This is the second incident in a year, happening to that boy."

Rose and Albus stood slightly behind the two conversing men, pretending to be deeply interested in observing what Thunder – Hagrid's new Boarhound – had dug up, while they listened keenly to their conversation.

"Can' say they woulda made it very far," Hagrid said drily, motioning toward the Forest.

Neville stiffened and said in a monotone, "Hagrid, I'd appreciate if you didn't say such off-putting things."

Hagrid chuckled darkly and muttered an apology.

After what seemed like ages – but was actually a quarter of an hour later – Professor Milnes' Patronus, a bluebird, warbled to them in Milnes' sharp, hollow voice, "We found the boy on the farthest side of the lake. He was unconscious, but didn't seem to have sustained severe injuries. He has just regained consciousness and I am transporting him to the Hospital Wing with Mister Craig immediately. I shall continue to search for Miss Barnes."

The message was short and to the point, but everyone sighed in relief. Scorpius was OK. Everything was OK.

Albus looked to Neville and asked, "Professor, may we be excused?"

Neville regarded him for a moment and then nodded, muttering something about searching for Olivia by himself.

Rose and Albus dashed off toward the school, not stopping till they reached the Hospital Wing. They pushed the door open and hurried inside. They paused at the sight of a grave looking McGonagall and an absolutely delirious Madam Palms. The Matron was shrieking at the Headmistress – who was staring back with pursed lips. Albus moved toward the bed, whose curtains were drawn, and slipped in through the side. Rose followed, glancing toward the Headmistress and glad that neither her nor the Matron had spotted them.

Scorpius was sitting up and looked at them wide-eyed when they entered. Albus grinned and patted him on the shoulder. "Got to hand it to you mate, even James and Fred haven't ever created as much of a fuss as you did."

Rose smacked Albus on the head and Scorpius chuckled shakily. Just then, Madam Palms had quieted down and shooting them a look, Albus hurried outside, announcing his presence to the two women. The Matron immediately began screeching again and the pair winced, grateful for Albus's sacrifice.

Scorpius finally turned to Rose and made a face. "Did they find her?"

Rose shook her head and then asked softly, "What happened?"

He sighed.

"Olivia's been going through a lot of stress – apparently – because of which she's been behaving the way she has."

Rose looked disbelievingly at the blond and he shrugged. "I did some research into her background and found out she comes from a family with a long line of ancestors with several known and unknown personality disorders."

Rose's eyes widened and he smiled gravely. "She didn't mean to behave the way she did, it was just in her blood. But apparently she'd had her sleepwalking under control for several years because of regular healing sessions and potions to keep it in check. She'd stopped taking her dosages for whatever reasons and that coupled with her being caught and stripped of her Prefect badge… she lost it."

Scorpius was staring at Albus' shadow on the curtain. "I found out about all of this when I came back early to school after Christmas break. Found her sleepwalking and informed Professor McGonagall immediately. But apparently Olivia refused to take her potions and McGonagall was forced to take strict action against her when we sent Olivia to her two days ago."

Scorpius sighed tiredly and said, "Apparently she had wanted to become Prefect to keep her sleepwalking in check. Since she'd have to stay awake, there wouldn't be any problems. But when she was denied that…it really creeped me out to see her just standing there and talking to herself, so I slipped away and followed her. She must have heard or sensed me, because she kept motioning toward wherever she was going to go. When she left the castle, I started to panic. I wanted to go and call a teacher, but I didn't want to leave her alone, at the same time. So I tried to draw her toward the Greenhouses, hoping to alert Professor Longbottom…"

Scorpius paled and stared at his hands. He shook his head and said lowly, "And then she went ballistic. She completely lost it. She started to scream and ran off toward the lake. I thought maybe Professor Longbottom or at least Hagrid would have heard her and ran after her… I thought she was going to jump… I tried to catch her but she jumped onto me and…"

He took his face in his hands, sighing tiredly. Rose stroked his hair and said softly, "At least she didn't hurt you."

Scorpius's head snapped up and he frowned at Rose in confusion. "Hurt me? Why would she hurt me?"

Rose mirrored his confusion and said, "Didn't she attack you?"

Scorpius inclined his head to regard Rose with a weird expression and then said hollowly, "She didn't attack me. She kissed me."

Rose felt her heart jolt in her chest and her breathing stilled. "She kissed you?"

Scorpius nodded once and Rose blanched. "And did you—did you kiss back?"

He raised his eyebrows at her. "Excuse me?"

"Did you kiss her back?"

"Rose, are you mental? That girl was half out of her mind!"

"So you did kiss her then."

Rose felt her face heat up and she pulled back slightly. Scorpius made a face like she had physically hurt him. He shook his head in shock, staring at her wide-eyed. "Rose, what would you have done? If I hadn't done something, she would have thrown herself into the lake or maybe thrown me into it, or both!"

"So you kissed her?"

"I didn't know what else to do! She just looked so hopeless—and I had to stall till a teacher found us—"

"Don't tell me you lost consciousness because you snogged each other's brain out!"

"We did not snog each other's brains out!"

By then they were screaming at each other. Rose had stood up and was glaring furiously down at Scorpius and he was looking at her like she was completely out of her mind. They were shouting so loudly, that Madam Palms had paused in her tirade to snap the curtains open and stare at them.

"Why are you being so unreasonable about this whole thing!" Scorpius shouted at Rose, raking a hand through his hair.

"Oh, I'm being unreasonable, am I? Fine then. Please tell me exactly what you were thinking when you snogged that girl."

"Nothing!"

"Oh, really. Is that what happened at Slughorn's Christmas Party as well?"

"Yes!"

"And in the library?"

Rose's voice had dropped so low, it was barely a whisper. Scorpius's eyes widened and his jaw set. His silver eyes flashed menacingly.

"Rose, don't you dare."

"Or what, Malfoy? Are you going to try to snog my brains out too?"

Scorpius's face hardened and he hissed, "Leave."

Rose's eyes filled with tears and she swallowed. "Fine," she choked and turning on her heel, ran out. She didn't even hear Albus or McGonagall calling after her as her ears were filled with the sound of her blood rushing to her head.

She ran toward Gryffindor Tower, tears streaming down her face, oblivious to the alarmed looks she was getting or the anxious whispers following after her. She ran into James and Fred who looked at her with bewildered expressions and locked herself in her dorm room, refusing to open the door to anyone.

She was mentally and emotionally exhausted and bone-tired. She didn't even have the energy to think about the night's events. She belatedly realized that class would start in a few hours, but her exhaustion took over and for the first time in her life, sleep was more important. In barely a few minutes, she had cried herself to sleep, sobbing quietly into her pillow.

A/n: Er, well, quite a bit happened in this chapter, didn't it? Sorry that it's so long, I couldn't break it off in the middle for obvious reasons.

And yes, I agree that Rose was completely unreasonable (I'm actually quite annoyed at her at the moment) but let me remind you of whose daughter she is. That's right, Ron Bilius 'emotional range of a teaspoon' Weasley. And also Hermione, but I associate Rose's pettiness mostly to Ron. In her defence, she's a confused fifteen-year-old who doesn't know what she's going through and there's a beautiful, older girl trying to get into the pants of the boy she loves and she thinks it's working, because Scorpius obviously looks much more in his element with Olivia than her.. (Shite I'm starting to sound like Rose I'm going to stop now) and hormones and everything.

Anyway, I want to know what you guys thought of this chapter. And cookie points to whoever picks out the nice bit in here.

Have a great Chritmas lovelies!

Lots of love and Merry Christmas!