A/N: WHAT? Two chapters in one week? And it's nice and long too :)

The first Quidditch match of the season was the following Saturday, which left Rose and Erin to themselves most of the time the week preceding it. Al was running the team ragged and there were many times when they sluggishly entered the castle for breakfast after an early morning practice. He was so focused on camaraderie that they spent most meals eating as a team. This had led to Rose and Erin spending more time with their younger classmates, mostly in the library or the joint common room. Scorpius had been right about how mad it would drive Erin that they'd changed the password to the Heads' common room and given it to two other people instead.

"We said we were sorry!" she pleaded with Rose as they made their way to Muggle Studies on Tuesday. Normally, Rose would be walking to class with Al, but he was holed up somewhere working on Quidditch plays and she'd bumped into Erin on the way. It didn't take her long to start trying to reason with Rose once again. "You could just give it to me and not Al. I swear I won't let him in."

Rose gave Erin a disbelieving look. "I don't think I believe that. And I don't think it would be fair to punish him and not you."

"It was his idea," Erin complained as they entered the classroom. The chairs were set up in a circle, which meant they would be discussing the project they had handed in before the weekend.

"Please sit with your partners for this lesson," their professor requested. He was sitting at his desk and going through some papers and didn't even look up as they entered.

Erin raised her eyebrows at Rose and jerked her head towards the professor in question. Rose had told Erin what she'd seen her sister doing with Malcolm Bray, and the news had gotten the reaction expected. She'd immediately started squealing and dragging Rose around the room in search of her sister.

They never found Alice and hadn't had a chance to go see her over the weekend, but Alice was planning on coming for dinner on Wednesday night and maybe even the Quidditch match that weekend, so they were hoping to interrogate her sometime soon. They'd agreed beforehand that it would be inappropriate to try and get anything out of their professor, so Rose gave a firm shake of her head when Erin seemed to second guess their decision. Plus, he had no idea that Rose had seen him with Alice.

Erin moved across the room to sit next to Harrison, who'd already found a seat and was waving her over. Rose stifled a giggle as Erin sat next to him, looking extremely uncomfortable as he started to talk to her, leaning in closer than necessary.

"Fancy seeing you here."

Rose looked up to see Patrick Allen hovering over her. He gave a friendly smile as he sat next to her.

"Let's not make this awkward, okay?" he said in an undertone. "I know I behaved like an arse, but I would still like to be your friend, if that's alright."

Rose tentatively gave him a nod and a slight smile. "That's alright."

He looked like he was about to say something else, but was interrupted by someone loudly clearing their throat.

"Budge over, Allen," Al said, jerking his head to the side. Rose gave Patrick an apologetic look, and he sighed and slid one seat over.

"You're so embarrassing," Rose mumbled under her breath to her cousin. He just smirked at her as he lounged back in his seat. Rose rolled her eyes and glanced across the room. Scorpius was now sitting next to Erin, who looked like she was trying to get him to switch seats with her. But Scorpius didn't seem to want to be chivalrous. He was just shaking his head at her and trying very hard not to grin.

"Alright," Professor Mac said with a sigh, moving from behind his desk to take a seat in the circle. "I have to say that I was very pleased with the work you all put into this project. Really well done."

The class shared grins with each other. Al even went so far as to offer Rose a fist bump, which she returned with a roll of her eyes.

"I want to spend this hour discussing these characters. I know we've gone over them a bit already, but we haven't really dissected anyone as a whole. We've only done it in pieces, just as we've gone through the book. I know you don't know everything about all of the characters yet since we haven't even finished the book, but you have a general enough idea of the ones you picked. Besides, I enjoyed reading your predictions," he said with a grin. "So, let's start with Fantine. If you had to describe this character in one word, what would that be?"

There was the usual pause before someone finally raised their hand. Rose was surprised to see that hand belonged to Devon Shepard.

"Tragic," he responded when the professor called on him. Malcolm seemed to be just as impressed by his response as Rose was.

"Care to elaborate?" the professor asked. Devon shrugged and leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees and staring at his hands clasped in front of him.

"She just seems to be the person that so much is expected of, but suffers the worst treatment. She's betrayed by the people she trusts, she's barely given anything she deserves, and she dies too young. If that isn't tragic, what is?"

The mood in the room turned stoic and somewhat somber. Rose took a moment to fully observe her classmate and found he looked rather haggard and run down. She glanced at Alec, who was sitting a few seats away from her, and saw him watching his friend in concern.

Rose hadn't had the opportunity to confront Devon Shepard, what with the Halloween party the past weekend. This was the first time she'd seen any evidence that Alec Turner was telling the truth about his friend. He was struggling with something and it was taking its toll.

Professor Mac nodded, glancing around the class. He'd taken to letting them do more of the facilitating during these discussions, occasionally jumping in with a question when he found it necessary. Angie Archer, who had been in the same group as Shepard, was the one to speak next.

"She was hard working, despite her circumstance. I think that's something we should definitely all aspire to be."

"She's also a great example of someone who had to compromise and go through things no one would ever want to just in order to survive. And she barely even did that. So yeah, pretty tragic in a lot of ways," Mandy Jordan commented.

"Excellent," said Professor Mac. "Any examples in your own life of any of these things? I know tragedy and living in difficult and painful circumstances aren't the easiest things to discuss, so maybe even an example where you've witnessed this in someone else's life? Maybe your parents?"

Most people took it in turn to glance at Al, who rolled his eyes at their lack of subtlety. They had taken to staring at him most times Bray asked these questions since everyone knew just about everything about his parents. But there were a few people who were looking curiously at Devon Shepard, who squirmed uncomfortably in his seat. When no one said anything for a while, Alec Turner let out a sigh and spoke up.

"I've seen an example of tragedy, though not in my own life."

Every head turned to look at him, but Devon shot him a scowl. Alec cleared his throat uncomfortably under his friend's glare.

"You see," he continued, "a friend of mine-"

"Alec, shut the hell up."

Everyone's eyes immediately snapped to Devon, except Alec's.

"Mr. Shepard, don't speak that way in my class," Professor Mac admonished.

"I'll shut up if he does."

Professor Mac looked unsure of what to do for a moment, but Alec gave a shake of his head and slouched back in his seat.

"Let's move onto another character," their professor finally said. The tension started to ease as they jumped through different aspects of the various characters and how they saw similarities in their own lives. Rose tried not to be distracted, and even shared her thoughts on her character, but her mind kept drifting to what she would say when she inevitably tried to talk to Devon Shepard after class. Professor Mac was generous enough to give her that opportunity, when he held him back after they were all dismissed.

"Rose, are you sure now is a good time?" Erin whispered as she joined her after class. The boys had started down the hall, but stopped when the girls didn't make it any further than the door.

"He was gone again this weekend and missed the meeting last night. I'm running out of opportunities. Can you distract them for a moment? Tell them I had a homework question."

Erin looked between Rose and Al and Scorpius, who were slowly making their way back towards them in curiosity. At the pleading look on Rose's face, she relented and walked towards the boys, grabbing them both by the arm and dragging them behind her. Rose could vaguely hear Scorpius questioning Erin, who gave a snappy reply.

Her friends made it down the hall and it was mostly deserted before Devon exited the classroom. He stopped short when he saw Rose waiting for him and gave her a funny look.

"Are you stalking me, Weasley?" he asked. Rose couldn't help the eye roll that followed his remark.

"No, but I do need to talk to you."

"If you haven't noticed, I've laid off your friend," he said as he started walking down the hallway. "So you can forget the lecture."

Rose quickly moved to follow after him. "This isn't about that, even though I do appreciate it. This is about your prefect duties."

She'd caught up with him now and he put on a mask of innocence.

"You weren't at the last meeting and you've had Turner covering for you when you know he shouldn't be. You realize you might lose your badge?"

When he ignored her and started walking faster, she reached out and grabbed his arm to stop him. He turned and flung her off, giving her a scowl.

"Back off, Weasley," he said, pointing at her threateningly. "I don't give a bloody fuck. You can have your precious prefect badge if you're just going to parade around and act like you're better than everyone."

"I'm not," she argued, trying desperately not to raise her voice. "I'm just trying to do my job, and that includes making sure you do yours. I know you're not an idiot and neither am I so I know something's going on to keep you from doing what you're supposed to. So what's going on?"

"That doesn't concern you," he bit back. "Stay the fuck out of my business."

"Can't you at least be civilized about this?" she asked as he started to walk away again. Not wanting to give up, she hurried after him and went to grab him by the arm again. He rounded on her and flung her off once more. She almost fell over with the force of it.

"Damn it, Weasley. I'm hanging on by a thread here."

She finally saw the vulnerability in his eyes. He was hurting, but he was doing everything he could to hide under his brutish facade.

"All I'm asking," she said in an attempt at a soothing voice. "Is that you give me a little honesty, so I can give you another chance. I'm supposed to have your back, and I don't want to go to the Headmistress if I don't have to."

His eyes turned cold as he pulled off his prefect badge, throwing it at her feet. "Take it. I don't want it anymore. Now you and that pure blooded bastard can leave me the hell alone."

He turned to walk away, but neither of them had realized that the Head Boy had come around the corner. Scorpius was staring dangerously at Devon, who'd stopped in his tracks when he saw him. A moment later, he continued forward, but didn't get very far when Scorpius moved to block his way - stopping him by placing a hand on his chest - Scorpius' slightly taller stature hovering over Shepard's broader one.

"Everything okay here, Rose?" he asked while still glaring at Shepard.

"Back the hell away, Malfoy," Shepard snarled.

"Shut up," Scorpius ordered. "I should march you up to the Headmistress right now."

Almost too quickly for Rose to notice, Shepard pulled his wand. But Scorpius was almost a step ahead of him and responded swiftly. In a moment, both young wizards had their wands aimed at each other's throats. Rose held her breath, unsure of what she could do other than pull her wand as well.

"Don't be an idiot," Scorpius said, his voice sounding earnest when Rose was expecting panicked. "Lower your wand, alright?"

"That's your problem, Malfoy. You've never had to fight for anything in your life, so why start now?"

"Shepard, back away," Rose warned, finding her voice. He just ignored her.

"You rich and entitled purebloods have never had to worry about anything have you? All your problems just go away with a snap of your fingers or the flick of a wand. It's bullshit!"

Scorpius gripped the front of Shepard's robes and abruptly shoved him against the wall. His wand was knocked out of his hand with the force of the impact.

"You don't know shit about me," Scorpius snarled. "So take your pigheaded comments and shove it before I curse your self righteous arse till you're beyond recognition."

A flicker of fear appeared in Shepard's eyes before he smirked at Scorpius.

"How terrifying, Malfoy. You sure you're not a Death Eater? You know what they say - like father, like son."

Rose felt her stomach drop to her feet as Scorpius moved before she could compose herself enough to stop him. In a second, Scorpius' wand was on the floor next to Shepard's as he punched the Gryffindor in the face.

"Scorpius!"

Rose's holler stopped him just before he took another swing. He looked at her as Shepard swore and held his nose. The anger fell away from Scorpius' face as Rose silently pleaded with him. He slowly loosened his grip and stepped away. Shepard wiped his now bleeding nose on his sleeve, bending down to retrieve his wand.

"Way to prove me right, Malfoy."

He brushed past him and took off down the hall without looking back. Scorpius just stood there, staring blankly ahead as Rose moved forward to retrieve his wand from the floor along with the discarded prefect badge, which she quickly shoved in her pocket.

"Scor-"

"I asked you not to do that," he said quietly, staring blankly at the wall. Rose sighed and rubbed her hand over her face, regret and frustration immediately filling her as she began to fear how this would affect Scorpius.

"You didn't have to come looking for me," she said rather than apologizing. He shrugged in response. Rose let out a sigh and turned her attention to his hand, reaching down to hold it gently. "I'm actually not the best at healing spells, and I don't think you want to go to Madam Pomfrey."

He gave a snort of obvious agreement.

"We could ask Louis? He's been doing some extra studying because he wants to be a Healer so he can probably help. We can check if he's in the joint common room. "

"Yeah, sure," he said, pulling his hand away from her and taking his wand.

"Are you alright?" she asked as they began walking down the hall.

"I'm intact," he said with a sigh. "Why aren't you yelling at me?"

Rose looked at him questioningly. "Why would I yell at you?"

In truth, part of her wanted to admonish him for what he'd done, but another part couldn't entirely blame him for lashing out.

"Because I shouldn't have punched him and we both know it. I can pretend it's your fault all I want for approaching him in the first place, but I didn't have to react that way. He's probably going to the hospital wing and Madam Pomfrey's going to ask what happened and she'll have to tell the Headmistress and I'll lose my badge as well."

"I really don't think we have to worry about that," Rose assured him. "If he comes clean about what happened, he knows he'll end up in trouble too. And as stupid as he's been behaving lately, I doubt he'll purposely put himself in a position for that to happen."

Scorpius gave a shrug. "Maybe. Besides, even if I don't get in trouble, I still shouldn't have done it. You heard what he said; I only proved him right."

"Don't talk like that. Please," said Rose. "He wasn't right at all."

He didn't say anything and Rose felt herself getting angry.

"How many times are we going to have to go over this? It doesn't matter what he says, Scor. You get to decide who you want to be, to hell with what everyone else thinks. Stop letting it bother you."

"You can't just say that and make it all go away," he said, stopping to face her. "You can reassure me all you want and while I may know you believe what you're saying, that doesn't mean everyone else agrees."

"Who cares if everyone else agrees!" Rose said in exasperation. "Isn't my opinion enough for you? Doesn't the opinion of someone who truly knows you matter more than what a hundred brainless idiots have to say?"

"You said yourself he's not an idiot!"

"I changed my mind!" she said indignantly. "Stop coming up with reasons to let yourself believe the lies the world is telling you, Scorp. You can't trust what the world thinks. What matters is what you think and what the people who matter to you think. You know that, right?"

He let out a shaky breath and squeezed his eyes shut, flexing his injured hand.

"I know," he said quietly. "I know. It's just hard to remember that."

"Do I need to keep reminding you? 'Cause I will."

He gave a slight chuckle and met her searching brown eyes. He nodded in agreement, and they began making their way down the hall once again. She linked her arm through his and rested her head on his shoulder, letting out a sigh.

"I know you're still trying to figure things out, and that's okay. But I hope you know that you don't have to change."

"I do, though," he argued. "No listen," he said, cutting her off before she could argue. "I've been a Slytherin all these years, but I've always sort of been in denial. I was always envious of how easily Al embraced his house. And I come from a long line of Slytherins. It should have made more sense to me but it never really has. I'm tired of running from it all. And maybe I'll go through all of this and realize I should have left well enough alone, but I can already tell that it's doing me good to just sort through all off this. And maybe that means spending more time with my housemates for a change."

They slowed as they turned the corner that led to the joint common room. "I don't even know if I'm going about this in the right way, but I hope you know how much I appreciate the fact that you're on my side. Not side Weasley, or side Gryffindor - but side Scorpius."

Rose chuckled at him and lifted her head to give him a teasing grin.

"That was incredibly cheesy."

He rolled his eyes as she laughed at him. "I didn't know how else to say it."

"Don't worry. You said it perfectly."

Louis healed his hand up without issue, and tactfully didn't ask any questions when they found him waiting for Molly in the joint common room. He'd actually been relieved to be needed, since it allowed him to escape the fifth year Ravenclaw that was batting her eyes at him. Scorpius had been worried that he'd compromised his ability to perform in the upcoming Quidditch match, but his worries had been quickly put at ease when his hand was returned to perfect working condition.

The following day, Alice had been expected to attend dinner in the Great Hall, so Erin was surprised when she received a letter from her at breakfast that morning.

"She's not coming!" she exclaimed as she read the letter.

"Does she say why?" Rose asked as she spread jam on her toast.

"Something about not being able to get away from the inn, but she's never had a problem before. Damn it, there goes our plans for interrogating her."

Alice had been attending dinner on most Wednesday evenings since term started, so it was odd that something should suddenly come up, but not unheard of. Although, Rose couldn't help but think her absence was a little too convenient.

"Do you think she's trying to avoid him?" Rose leaned in and whispered. Erin shrugged as she handed her the letter.

"She might be. Alice isn't the best with relationships so I wouldn't be surprised. She said she's still planning on coming to the match, though. That's something."

Rose remembered all too well the change that had taken place in Alice the summer after her fifth year. Rose and Erin hadn't been at school with the older girl, but they'd witnessed the heartbreak she had to endure the summer following. While Rose didn't know the details, she knew Alice hadn't really dated since and had a hard time trusting men in general. She'd always been more tender hearted than Erin, but they were both more similar than they thought.

"What are you two whispering about?"

They looked up at Jill, who was watching them curiously from across the table as Molly sat next to her, consumed in her own letter.

"Nothing," Erin said dismissively. "It's personal. Why are you two over here anyway?"

"You asked us if we wanted to have breakfast with you last night," Jill said in an obvious tone. "We were talking about how we didn't get to really hang out at the Halloween party, so you said the four of us should do breakfast this morning. It's really nice hanging out with people who ignore you to whisper amongst themselves."

Erin looked guilty for a second before noticing Molly, who was still engrossed in her own letter.

"You're right," she said, snatching Alice's letter from Rose and folding it up to put away. "We'll put away our letter if you put away yours."

They all looked at Molly expectantly, who didn't notice the attention she was receiving, continuing to read her letter by flipping to a second page.

"Who's that from?" Jill finally asked, leaning in to look over her friend's shoulder. Molly quickly held the letter against her chest and leaned away from her friend, looking between the other three girls in fear.

"No one?"

Erin gave a bark of disbelieving laughter before reaching forward and successfully swiping the letter out of Molly's grasp.

"Erin, dont!" Molly pleaded, reaching to try and steal it back from her, but Erin held it just out of her reach.

"Oh, calm down. We won't tell anyone," she assured her. "Are you pen pals with someone in Azkaban or something?" she asked as she read the first few lines. Her expression changed from ammussed to confused as she paused and looked up at Molly in question. The Ravenclaw gave her an apologetic look before Erin quickly flipped to the second page and skipped to the bottom of the letter. Rose leaned in to look over Erin's shoulder and felt her jaw drop in shock.

"My brother's writing to you?"

Rose looked up at her cousin at Erin's question. Molly took a deep breath and seemed to do her best to brace herself for whatever reaction Erin was about to have.

"Yes, he is."

"Why?" Erin quickly snapped.

"We're friends," Molly answered, choosing not to elaborate. Erin waved the two paged letter in Molly's face.

"Friends my arse," she said in a furious whisper. "How long has this been going on?"

"Erin, please," Molly reasoned with her. "We really are just friends. Ethan asked me when we were all at the Manor this summer if it was okay if we kept in touch over the school year and I said it was."

"So you're just friends now but you're planning on being more?"

Molly let out a sigh and began to nervously twirl her wavy red hair around her finger. "I don't know, Erin. We're getting to know each other better and we'll see where it goes. I don't want to rush into anything. You of all people should understand that. Can I have my letter back now?"

Erin seemed to have been rendered speechless as she calmly handed back the letter. She went back to her breakfast and the three girls watched her uncertainly before she looked back up at Molly.

"If you hurt him, I'll rip your heart out."

Molly looked terrified for a moment, before Erin smirked at her. She visibly relaxed and gave Erin a smile that betrayed she was still slightly fearful.

"Duly noted."

Rose chuckled and continued with her toast. It was a somewhat surprising turn of events, but now that she thought about it, Molly and Ethan did make a bit of sense.

"What?"

Rose looked up to see Molly, a sausage on her fork as if paused on its way to her mouth, looking uncertainly at Jill, who was watching her closely.

"How come I didn't know about this?"

Molly lowered her fork as Erin and Rose watched in interest. Jill and Molly had always gotten on splendidly. Rose couldn't remember a time when they hadn't. Even she and Erin had times when they weren't too happy with each other, but Jill and Molly could always be counted on to get on with each other effortlessly. This was the first sign she'd ever seen of a crack.

"I'm sorry," Molly said guiltily. "I wanted to tell you, but I want to take this slow and you'd have pressured me to speed it up."

Jill looked offended by the insinuation as she responded. "That's not fair. You don't know that."

"Jill, I know you," Molly reasoned. "You jump in fast or you don't jump in at all. I thought I was doing what was best for me, but I'm sorry if it hurt you."

Jill let out a huff and turned back to her meal. "Whatever. You plan on letting me know when you get married?"

Rose and Erin stifled sniggers at the pout Jill wore. She was always rather dramatic, but she tended to bounce back quickly. Hopefully, that would be the case in this situation as well.

"You'll be the first to know," Molly assured her with a small smile. Placated, Jill went back to her meal and was soon asking about what everyone's plans were for the weekend, which inevitably led to talk of the Quidditch match.

"Are you rooting for Slytherin this year?" Jill asked Erin, who looked offended by the very suggestion.

"No. Why would I?"

"Because of Al," Molly said simply. "You guys weren't exactly subtle the other night."

"What other night?" Erin asked.

"Come on," said Rose. "Even though you snuck off to snog, you couldn't exactly ignore the sultry looks you were sending each other all night."

"Not to mention the rather public snog in the common room a few weeks ago," Jill threw in. Erin rolled her eyes.

"Even if Al and I were dating, which we're not," she clarified forcefully. "I'd still be loyal to my house."

"What about you, Rose?" Molly asked her cousin. She didn't really care about Quidditch so she never had trouble just cheering on her cousins. "Is it weird to root against him?"

Rose shrugged. "I suppose, but I'm sort of used to it by now. And I do root for him in a way. I don't necessarily want them to win, but I want him to do well. Scorpius too."

Erin gave her a look. "Do you remember how insufferable they were when they lost last year?"

Rose nodded. She could only remember too well how Al had gone on and on about the match against Gryffindor almost none stop until they finally had another one for him to obsess over.

"Imagine what would happen if they actually won," Erin said seriously.

Rose laughed, but couldn't help agreeing with Erin. "They would be insufferable. But come on, you can't deny you'll be excited for them if they do well."

"It's different with Al than with Scorpius," Erin argued. "Scorp's a Chaser, so while his goals matter, they don't hold quite as much weight as catching the Snitch in the end. Rooting for Al to catch the Snitch is basically the same as rooting for Slytherin to win."

"And why would you do anything else?" the Slytherin Seeker asked as he slid in next to Erin, grabbing a piece of bacon off her plate. Rose rolled her eyes as Scorpius sat next to her.

"What are you doing over here?" Erin questioned. "I thought this was team bonding week."

"Corbin threatened to quit if Al interfered with his social life for the fourth day in a row," Scorpius informed them, grabbing a plate and eyeing all the food.

Al scowled as Erin slapped his hand away from her plate. "I'm just trying to be a good captain."

"I'm sure you are," Erin said in mocking sympathy, reaching out to pat his cheek. He swatted her away but it still made him crack a smile.

"Aren't you two adorable," Jill commented, leaning her elbow on the table and resting her chin in her palm. She looked at them as if they were two lovable puppies. Erin looked at her in disgust.

"Ew. Save that for my brother and your friend."

The boys lost interest in the food they were loading onto their plates at Erin's comment.

"What's this?" Scorpius asked, swallowing a mouthful of scone.

"Molly and Ethan are pen pals," Rose said in delight. The boys both looked at Molly with raised eyebrows.

"I always wondered if he fancied you," said Scorpius, going back to his food and missing Molly's blush.

"You did not," Al argued. Scorpius nodded his head in certainty.

"I'm very observant, Al. I notice these things."

"Really?" Al questioned disbelievingly. "Then tell me this - who does Fred fancy?"

"Eva Wood."

They all looked at Scorpius with wide eyes.

"Seriously?" Rose asked.

"At least I assume so," Scorpius said with a shrug. "He's just different around her."

Rose couldn't really think of a good example of this, but then she'd never really paid attention before.

"Wow, this is like a super power. Do someone else," Al requested.

"I shouldn't have even said what I did. I don't even know if I'm right."

"Come on," Al pleaded, leaning around Erin to talk to his best friend. She gave him an annoyed look and elbowed him in the ribs, but he didn't flinch. Rose held in a giggle as Erin did a double take, mouthing the word "wow" as she subtly reached out and felt his muscular side.

"It's the Quidditch," Rose whispered, and Erin drew her hand back, blushing and shushing Rose as Al continued to plead with Scorpius, listing off names that his friend continued to refuse to comment on.

"How about Hugo?"

"No."

"Bobby?"

"I said no."

"Dom?"

"I swear, Al…"

"Rose?"

"Al!"

It was Rose who attempted to silence him that time. She stared at her cousin, willing herself not to blush and willing him to shut up.

"I will see to it that you serve a detention if you don't shut up right now."

"For what?" he asked, oblivious to what he had been asking.

"For being a nuisance. You shouldn't even be at this table."

"Since when?" he asked in confusion.

"Since you started asking questions that are none of your business," she hissed at him, throwing in a scowl for good measure. He raised his hands in defeat and sat back.

"Okay, then," he placated. "Don't get your knickers in a twist about it."

Rose took a deep, calming breath and went back to her breakfast, ignoring Al's comment to Erin that he was just testing Scorpius and that he actually knew the answer to all of those questions. She reflexively glanced at Scorpius and actually looked at him out of the corner of her eye when she noticed he was smirking as he ate his eggs.

"Shut up," she whispered as Jill started questioning Al about his hair care products. Rose ignored Erin's attempts to keep from laughing as Al just looked at Jill in confusion.

"I didn't say anything," Scorpius whispered back with a slight chuckle. Rose glowered at him as he took a bite of his eggs, trying very hard not to smile. She gave a huff of annoyance and went back to her breakfast as Al argued with Jill that his hair was just fine and he didn't need any silly products because nothing would make it lie flat.

It was a few moments later when she felt Scorpius shift slightly, and butterflies erupted in her stomach when she realized that his knee was now right up against hers. She chanced a subtle glance and saw a blush slowly creeping up his cheeks as he focused on his breakfast. He was nervous, and it made her feel giddy as she moved imperceptibly closer to him, letting her knee fully rest against his. She focused back on her meal but heard him laughing at Al. She looked to see her cousin running a hand over his hair before she turned her attention back to Scorpius. He was now teasing Al, but he spared a quick look down at her, and she felt her face flush as he sent her a secretive wink.

A/N: I'm going to try and update this story every weekend. Here's hoping I keep with it! As always, I'd appreciate reviews! Whether it's the stuff you liked or the stuff you didn't or any inconsistencies you see. It's all helpful!

Also, I have some images that I made for a majority of the characters. I have this story over on HPFF and I have chapter images there, but it's closing down after this week. I'd love to share them with you all at the beginning of the chapters, but I wasn't sure how that works if it's even possible. Any insight would be appreciated!

Happy Reading :)