A/N: I know most of you are wondering why neither of our boys voted for Mr. Ronald Weasley himself, and that's because they probably know that his reaction would be the worst. It's only natural to think that the girl's daddy would blow up and cause chaos for everybody, don't you think? They're trying to think outside the box here, haha.

And chewing-gum-addicted, once this is over you can have all the Holden you want.

PS: After this fic is done I'm most likely going to be shifting over to Legend of Zelda - I have a really good idea for a drama-ish story (don't worry, I'll try to incorporate my sarcastic wit into some parts), so if any of you fine readers are a fan of the game series, be sure to be on the lookout for that!

What Now?

"Lily, Lily, where are you?"

Rose was nervously combing through the aisles of the library, frantically searching for her younger cousin. She was gripping her textbook so hard her knuckles were whitening, and her eyes were wide and fearful.

She had no idea what to expect from her cousin; she knew that Lily had her mother's temper, and that was something she feared. What was she going to say, and worst of all, how was she going to explain to her other cousins...and her sisters?

She spun on her heel to turn the corner, and she froze a few feet away from the study table by the window, the same study table she and Albus usually sat in.

Not only was Lily sitting there, but all of the others were: Roxanne, Jane, Mandy, Dominique and Lisa were crowded around the table, their heads bent together in hushed conversation. Rose had a feeling they were talking about her.

She cleared her throat loudly to get everyone's attention, and her heart rate doubled when Mandy faced her with a raised eyebrow, her expression loathing. Lily's was even worse; she looked like she was going to strike and attack at any given moment. Dominique and Roxanne looked disappointed; Jane and Lisa were the only ones who looked at least neutral.

Rose twiddled her fingers in a nervous greeting. "Erm, I guess you were all in the Great Hall this morning?"

"Come take a seat, dear sister," Mandy pulled out a chair in between her and Jane and gestured towards it, "we need to talk."

The table was silent as Rose stepped forward to join them. She felt like a prisoner on death row; their eyes were watching her every move, as if they expected her to do something sudden, like admitting that what they had just heard this morning was a silly rumour.

"So I've taken you've heard-"

"Who didn't hear that girl this morning, Rose, besides our blockheads for brothers who decide to sleep in on a day like this?" Mandy rolled her eyes. Jane gave her a pointed stare, then turned to Rose and patted her hand. Rose was surprised Lily did not speak yet, but she looked like she was holding it in for later.

"Give her a moment to explain everything." Jane intervened, and Rose mouthed a silent 'thank you' to her youngest sister.

"What exactly did Tatia say?" Rose thought that asking such a question would give off a strong start; Lisa hesitated for a moment before answering.

"She said that she saw you and Scorpius under that tree by the lake a few days ago…" She hesitated again, her cheeks turning into a violent shade of scarlet. Rose gestured for her to continue, but Dominique spoke instead.

"She said that at first she saw you two talking, or studying, whatever, and then you two leaned in and began snogging...and she said that you looked like you both enjoyed it!"

Rose gulped. "Okay, well there is a logical explanation for this, and it's a bit of a lengthy story-"

"Skip the story and get to the point." Lily grunted, and Rose nodded quickly, in fear that if she did anything else her younger cousin would unleash her hellish wrath.

"Despite all of the prejudices we've been given before we even met, Scorpius and I have somehow found a way to live...without them. He's really not as bad as you think-"

"What did I say about getting to the point?"

"We're going out." Rose blurted, and everyone gasped.

"I knew it," Mandy grumbled.

"Oh my," Lisa had a hand over her mouth; Dominique was muttering in French; Roxanne was shaking her head; Lily's face was unreadable. Jane was the only one who seemed unfazed by the truth and she smiled.

"I'm happy for you, Rosie." She said warmly. This time it was Rose's turn to gasp.

"You're not in a state of denial like the others?"

"Why should I? I can't choose anybody for you, and it's not like you can either. Things just happen that way, and even if he is the last person we'd all expect, at least he's somebody. Is he really not that bad?"

"Oh Jane, we've all misjudged him, and in the beginning I felt terrible for thinking so - actually now that I think about it, I still do feel bad about it." Everybody else seemed to calm down a bit (except for Lily of course, who was still scowling) and turned to pay attention, "He acknowledges the fact that he's made mistakes in the past when he listened to his father, but now that he's older he thinks apart from him and he wants to make a change. He doesn't want to grow up to be like Draco Malfoy - he wants to be Scorpius, somebody that isn't a bloody arrogant toerag."

There was a moment of strained silence; for a second Rose thought they were all going to pounce on her and rip her apart, but instead Roxanne leaned forward with a shy look on her face.

"So...is he a good kisser?"

--

"Nice save there, Hugo."

The taller Weasley swatted the Quaffle back towards his younger brother; Randy caught it with ease and began zipping around the field in complicated rhythms and patterns. Albus was floating stock still, looking like he was on another planet.

"Oi, Al - are you alright?" Hugo called from the goalposts; Albus tugged at his collar and waved towards his cousin.

"Y-yes, it's just this dratty weather that's getting to me...it's getting warmer and all…"

He began moving around to avoid suspicion; Randy tossed him the Quaffle and he half-heartedly tried to shoot it past Hugo, but instead it went soaring in a completely other direction. This time both of the Weasley brothers approached their troubled cousin.

"There's definitely something bothering you, mate. What's the matter?" Randy asked. Albus laughed nervously and shook his head; he was shaking so hard his glasses almost came off.

"I don't know what you're talking about; I'm fine. I already told you it's the sun that's slowing me down."

"The sun's never slowed you down before, Al." Hugo replied skeptically. Albus laughed again, even louder and more hysterical than the last, and waved his cousin off before zooming a few feet away. He raised his arms and began flailing them desperately, as if he were drowning and were seeking help.

"C'mon then!" Albus called out to them, "Pass me the Quaffle! I'll be sure to knock it in this time!"

"What's gotten into him?" Randy raised an eyebrow; Hugo shrugged his bony shoulders and dove downwards to scoop up the fallen Quaffle. The Weasley brothers and Albus resumed tossing around the ball for another half hour before calling it a day; it was not as much fun with only two people really playing.

"Are you sure nothing's bothering you? You look like your head's been knocked with a Bludger." The three boys were now walking on the short dirt pathway back to the main grounds.

"I'm fine, Hugo, really - it's this heat, why won't you believe me…" Albus' voice was too dazed and distracted to be convincing; Hugo and Randy stepped in front of their cousin to prevent him from walking any further.

"Okay Potter, spit it out. What's on your mind?" Both of the Weasley brothers were wearing stern expressions on their pale, freckled faces. Albus gulped and took a cautious step backward. He was never known as the graceful one in the family, so it was unsurprising when he somehow tripped over his own feet and toppled to the ground. His broom came down with him, clattering and forming small dust clouds as it came in contact with the ground.

"H-honestly guys, this isn't necessary-"

"Yes it is, Al. C'mon now, there's nothing you can't tell us." Randy was the softer one of the two brothers, and he held out his hand towards his older cousin. Albus reluctantly took it and let Randy pull him up to his feet. He dusted off his jeans and adjusted his glasses.

I guess I can't hold it off any longer…

"I reckon you weren't in the Great Hall this morning?" He asked; both brothers shook their heads.

"We slept in a little later than usual," Hugo admitted sheepishly. Albus gulped loudly; the fact that they were not there to hear Tatia's whining would only intensify their reaction…

"Ho-kay then," Albus inhaled and exhaled in an effort to calm himself down; Hugo and Randy exchanged looks of confusion, "are you sure you're ready to hear this? This is something that isn't for the faint of heart, you know. We can always wait 'till supper, or a few days-"

"Al…"

"RoseandScorpiusMalfoyaregoingout."

"Come again?" Randy cupped a hand to his ear; Hugo still looked confused.

Oh Merlin, please spare me… "Rose, your sister, and Scorpius Malfoy, the bloke your dad's been hating even before he came into existence, are together."

WHAM! There were stars poking in and out of Albus' vision, and he heard a lot of cussing and strangled screaming. His head was throbbing uncontrollably and he had a hard time focusing on his cousins; maybe his glasses were broken?

Then everything went black.

--

Scorpius was pacing nervously in front of the fireplace in the Slytherin common room later that afternoon, his head swarming with different ways to approach Tatia. Holden, looking unimpressed as always, was sitting in one of the armchairs with a book of poems by Edgar Allan Poe in his hands.

"Thought of a good strategy yet?" Holden asked lazily, looking up from his book; Scorpius shushed him and resumed his pacing.

"Shut up, will you? I need to think! It's been hours and I still haven't thought of anything-"

"It's only been fifteen minutes, Malfoy."

"Really?" Scorpius stopped to look at the ornate clock hanging over the mantle, "It feels like it's been hours." He continued pacing. Thankfully they were the only ones in the common room; everybody else was outside enjoying the nice weather, including Tatia. He figured that the sun would help her temporarily forget what she witnessed a few days ago.

"It's almost time for dinner - maybe she'll come storming back inside. That would be your chance to strike, don't you think?" Holden suggested. Scorpius turned to face his friend; he looked like he was going to leap towards him and scoop him up in a big bear hug. Holden raised a nervous eyebrow.

"You are a bloody genius!" Holden exhaled when Scorpius did not make any sudden movements, "I'll just wait until she comes back, and-"

"Oh, I think I hear her coming now." Voices were leaking in from the entrance, and Scorpius's pupils shrank.

"Already?" He squeaked, and he scrambled over to the doorway. A red-eyed Tatia (How long can this girl cry? He wondered) stepped into view, shielding her face with her fists.

"Tatia, I need to-"

"I have nothing to say to you, Scorpius Malfoy." She sniffled, and proceeded to walk to the girls' dormitories, but he stepped in her way once again.

"Please...it's important. I believe I have a lot of explaining to do." Scorpius tried his best to sound polite. Tatia lowered her hands and sighed exasperatingly, then grabbed his wrist and tugged him over to the fireplace; Holden was nowhere to be seen.

"What is it?" She was leaning against the fireplace, her arms crossed over her chest, making her bust look bigger than usual; Scorpius coughed and turned to face the opposite side of the room.

"I know you've seen some...things...a couple of days ago, and I understand that it's upset you quite a bit. I think I owe you an explanation."

"You bloody well owe me an explanation! What on earth were you thinking, snogging Rose Weasley, out of all people? What was going through your bloody head when you were doing it? Are you insane? Have you gone completely MAD?" Tatia was speaking so quickly it was nearly impossible to understand her. Scorpius stepped back and raised his hands in front of him.

"Look Tatia, you're a really nice girl, and there's no doubt about it - you're beautiful - one of the best looking in the school, but-"

"But what, Scorpius?" Her honey coloured eyes were brimming with tears now, and Scorpius forced the painful lump down his throat.

"Y'see...Rose and I are kind of...well, together." Scorpius clamped his eyes shut and waited for the worst to pass, but when a minute ticked by and he did not feel any pain he slowly opened them, only to see a shocked Tatia Schultz gaping at him like a fish out of water.

"What. Did. You. Just. Say?" Her face was unreadable; Scorpius gulped and took another step back, only to collide with the wall, "You and Weasley-"

"Her name's Rose." Scorpius retorted; Tatia balled her hands into fists and exploded into a fit of cuss words and incoherent shrieks. The only thing he was able to make out from her angry rambling was "NO!", "OUT OF ALL PEOPLE,", "HOW COULD YOU?", "BLOODY HEAD GIRL", and "WHY DIDN'T I SEE THIS COMING?" All of the other Slytherins were wise enough to take shelter in their respective dormitories long ago, so Scorpius was the only one suffering.

So this is why you shouldn't make a Veela angry…

Tatia seemed too immersed in her anger, so Scorpius took the chance to escape. He crept towards the stairs, up into the boys' dormitories, and closed the door behind him, heaving a sigh of relief.

"Nice set of pipes, she has." Holden smirked; he was sitting casually on his bed with his back against the headboard, his Edgar Allan Poe book still in hand. Scorpius pressed his palms against his ears as he approached his own bed.

"I think my ears are bleeding." He complained.

"This is worse than the time we had to deal with those nasty plant things in Herbology…" Princeton scratched his head, "What were those things called again…?"

"We're never going to eat dinner if she continues like this!" Porter cried; Scorpius shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it. We just have to wait-" Suddenly, the horrendous shrieking came to an abrupt halt; everybody in the room stayed stock still.

"-'till it subsides." Scorpius finished in a low murmur; Holden shushed him and crept towards the door. He opened it a little, just enough to peek through with one eye, and surveyed the area. After a few seconds he closed it and gave the thumbs up to his dorm mates.

"She's gone, probably to either dinner or her dormitory. It's safe to go out now."

One by one the boys snuck out of their own common room, wary to any dark-haired girl with a green and silver tie. Porter suggested that Scorpius took the longer way to the Great Hall to induce the risk of getting caught; Scorpius was surprised that Porter had enough brains to think up of such a thing.

"So...you guys don't care that Rose and I…" Scorpius was unable to complete the sentence. Porter and Princeton shrugged their burly shoulders.

"A girl's a girl to me." Princeton replied casually; Holden and Scorpius exchanged confused looks.

"Alright, we'll meet you in the Great Hall then." Holden pushed Scorpius in the other direction; the blond waved them off and began walking.

He walked in silence, his hands shoved in his pockets; the hallway was always deserted at this time, since everybody was hungry and wanted to approach the food faster. He expected to be alone on his walk to the Great Hall, which was why he was surprised when he noticed somebody else taking the same route as him, just a few feet away. Though his back was turned to him, Scorpius did not miss the mound of black hair.

"Potter?" Scorpius jogged up to the boy and tapped his shoulder; he almost screamed when Albus turned to face him, his glasses shattered and his right eye swollen and purple.

"Bloody hell - what happened to you? And why are you taking the long way to the Great Hall?" Scorpius gasped; he pulled out his wand and quickly repaired Albus' glasses.

"Thanks," Albus adjusted his glasses before continuing, "I'm taking this way just in case Hugo and Randy see me; they kicked the snot out of me when I told them. Guess the bet's in your favour so far."

Scorpius suppressed a laugh. "Well I was taking this way because I was afraid Tatia was going to see me. Guess we're in a bit of a predicament, aren't we?"

Albus stayed silent for a minute, then lifted his head to face Scorpius. "Are you hungry?"

The blond shrugged. "Not really - after enduring a screaming fit from an angry part-Veela I don't think my stomach can handle much else. What about you?"

"To be honest my head's killing me more than my stomach is. What say we head up to the prefects' common room and wait for Rose to finish? I heard her say to Lisa that she was going there after dinner."

"Alright," Scorpius spun around to begin walking the other way, and Albus mimicked him, "and maybe we can do something about that eye. Hugo was the one that did that to you, didn't he?"

"Yeah, I think so - he was standing on my right before he hit me, so there's a good chance that it was him." Albus groaned in pain and rubbed his head, "Packed a real good one; I'm going to be feeling this for days."

"Rose doesn't know?"

"She'll find out tonight." Albus smirked, "Y'know, you really aren't as bad as my family said you are. Maybe this whole prejudice thing Rose was rambling on about is actually true."

Scorpius broke out in laughter. "At least you're finally breaking through. I just hope everyone else in your crazy family will be able to do the same."

"Well, we'll find out tonight won't we? Rose probably already talked to them."

"We still have your aunts, your uncles, your older cousins and of course, your brother. I don't see how James can upstage a punch to the eye, though." They approached the room with the shifting staircases and waited for the right one to rotate in their direction. Albus shrugged and gave Scorpius a furtive look.

"You'll be surprised at the things my brother is capable of doing." He muttered.

--

It had been a long dinner; Rose spent most of it avoiding Lily, who still seemed to be in a rotten mood. Everybody else had gotten over the whole 'Rose is going out with Scorpius' thing and resumed their normal ways. She was actually taken back when everybody (except Lily of course) confessed that they secretly sort of fancied the mistreated Slytherin, but then again who could not resist those looks of his? And that crooked smile…

Rose pushed the door to the prefects' common room open, only to see an exhausted Albus sitting by the fire with a dark bruise around his eye. Scorpius was sitting in the chair next to his, chatting with him; now she knew why she did not see either of them at dinner. Rose immediately rushed to her cousin's side and knelt by him to examine his injury.

"Merlin, what happened to you?" She held her cousin's jaw with her thumb and index finger and turned his head at odd angles to get a better look at his eye, "Who did this to you?"

"Your brother, Hugo." Albus muttered; Scorpius snickered as Rose gaped in horror.

"You told him, didn't you?" Rose's voice was barely a whisper; Albus nodded slowly.

"Well, we were supposed to tell, weren't we?"

"Yes, but I didn't think his reaction would be that bad!" She brandished her wand and pointed it at her cousin's face, uttering a short spell. The nasty purple colour instantly faded into Albus' normal skin tone, and the swelling died down. Albus reached upwards to touch his eye but Rose slapped his hand away.

"It's only a concealment spell, I didn't heal anything. Mum told me it was better to let the bruise heal naturally." She admitted; Scorpius threw his head back and laughed even harder.

"You mean he's wearing makeup? Like a girl? Oh, this is rich!" He barked; Albus flushed and his shoulders slumped.

"It's not like I'm wearing anything sparkly or colourful, Malfoy." He retorted pathetically. Rose rolled her eyes.

"Okay, okay, that's enough. How did Tatia take it?" She moved to sit beside Albus on the couch. Scorpius shrugged his shoulders, seemingly indifferent.

"Not too well, naturally. She practically blew up in front of me, but I was able to hide before it got any worse. I take it she won't be talking to me ever again." Rose opened her mouth to apologize, but he quickly shook his head, "There's no need to say sorry; I'm actually relieved that I've severed ties with her. She's completely mad, I'm telling you. Anyway, how did you do?"

"Surprisingly well, actually," Rose smiled, but then she remembered Lily and her mood instantly soured, "except for Lily. She hasn't really spoken to me yet, but when I explained everything she looked pretty angry."

"Lily's like that. Just give her time to adjust to things, but don't bother her in the meantime, or she'll explode. Trust me, she can be worse than Tatia, and that's really saying something." Albus explained. Rose sighed and leaned back against the couch; Scorpius stared wistfully into the fire.

"So...what do we do now?" Albus asked, after a few moments of silence. Scorpius shrugged and turned away from the fire to face his new friend.

"Don't we have to tell our parents?" He asked slowly, unsure of their reactions.

"Would it be wise to tell them in advance, or wait 'till graduation?" Rose asked, but it sounded like she was talking to herself. Albus and Scorpius glanced at each other and shook their heads, uncertain of what to do, or say. The three friends turned towards the fire and meddled in their own thoughts and worries, wondering what to do next. Sometimes one of them would look up, thinking that they had come up with a strategy, but then they would only look down again and resume staring into the fire in an awkward silence, realizing that there was a fault to their plan. The evening continued on without any of them saying a word.

What were they going to do now?