A/N: I am finally back home from College and have time to write again. So, I'm determined to finish this story this summer... It's been a long time coming. Thank you to everyone reading and reviewing, and of course to everyone putting this story on their various lists. I've already started writing the next chapter, so it will be coming out soon. Please keep reviewing and let me know if you have any criticism of the story or ideas!

DISCLAIMER. Don't own. 'Tis all.

As I started to come to I could feel the left side of my head pounding. The pain was so acute that it felt as if my brain was literally pulsating against my skull. I could feel a rough fabric against my face and I couldn't help but frown in confusion. Not wanting to open my eyes just yet, I moved my left arm forward and touched whatever it was that I had leaned my head against. As my hand made contact I realized that it was somebody's leg. Out of reflex, my hand gripped the thigh in shock and I immediately heard a deep groan. Startled, I scrambled up and blinked my eyes open.

For a few seconds my brain was too busy trying to process the image of Nathaniel, passed out, to react to my situation. Nathaniel furrowed his bushy brows and slid further down the wall of the astronomy tower. Letting out a sigh, I rubbed my forehead and scooted back against the wall. As I leaned back, my right hand came upon a shard of glass. Frowning, I turned my head and glanced down to see that I had stumbled upon a broken bottle of firewhiskey. Allowing my eyes to scan the Astronomy tower, I noticed that there were several other empty bottles of whiskey and butterbeer lying about. As far as people went however, Nathaniel and I appeared to be the only two who had failed to make it back to their respective dormitories.

Shoving the broken bottle further away, I turned my attention onto Nathaniel. Reaching out my left arm I shoved his shoulder in an attempt to get his attention. I should have probably been gentler but I was too hungover to make any effort at being polite about it. Nathaniel tipped over and groaned loudly before coming to full consciousness. He slowly opened his eyes and rubbed a hand over his face before turning his head towards me.

"I feel terrible." He grumbled before doing a quick scan of the area around us. Having noticed how many bottles were littered around the Astronomy tower he tilted his head from side to side in consideration. "Yeah…that makes sense." He finally muttered.

"What time is it?" I asked in a low tone. Not only was my head pounding but my throat was also extremely dry and scratchy. I knew that if I tried to speak at any level above a whisper I would wind up sounding like an eighty-year-old man. Glancing away from Nathaniel I took a moment to observe the damage I had inflicted upon my dress. The hemline was tattered and dirty and the original, modest slit had made its way up to the middle of my thigh. It seemed as if I would have to permanently retire this gown.

"It's a quarter past eight."

I nodded my head and then took a deep breath, readying myself for the physicality of my next act. Slowly, I tried to stand up. Once I was up on my own two feet I reached a hand out and leaned my weight against the wall. Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes for a few seconds to allow my blurry vision to recover.

"Where are you going?" Nathaniel questioned.

"My room." I paused for a moment, trying to clear the awful, hoarse feeling from my throat. "I really just need to get into my bed." That and it was absolutely crucial that I was in my bed before anyone else woke up or I would have hours of explaining to do.

Nathaniel nodded and I took that as my cue to start heading towards the Gryffindor tower. As I turned and began to walk away I was called back.

"Rose, what happened last night?"

Hearing this, I paused in my tracks without bothering to turn around. Tilting my head to the side I considered Nathaniel's question for a few seconds. I soon realized that my brain was in no state to try and recall the previous nights festivities.

"Ask me in a couple of hours." I mumbled with a wave of my hand before walking off.

It wasn't until about half past one that I managed to come to in my own bed. I was no longer tired and my headache had gone away for the most part. My biggest complaint at the moment was the fact that my mouth felt incredibly dry.

There were a few girls wandering about the dormitory, slowly getting ready for what was left of the day. Sighing, I turned my head so that I could stare straight up at the ceiling. Now that I was fully conscious I thought it would be a good idea to try and sort out what had happened during, and after the ball. The last thing that was perfectly clear was the conversation I had, had with Scorpius. As I recalled everything Scorpius had said to me I groaned loudly and rolled over onto my stomach, burying my face into my pillow. Scorpius had unabashedly called me out for my behavior and at this point, I didn't know what I was more embarrassed over – how I had accosted Frank about his potential relationship with Adeline, or the fact that, of all people, Scorpius had to be the one to set me straight.

I made a mental note to track Frank down and straighten things out with him. While I still thought Adeline was beneath Frank my actions at the ball had been fueled by jealousy, not concern. Frank was a big boy and he was perfectly capable of taking care of himself.

Everything after my conversation with Scorpius was a giant blur. I vaguely remembered dragging Nathaniel out of the Great Hall and up to the astronomy tower after the first few dances of the evening. The two of us had started the after party early and continued the evening's festivities well after his friends had joined us. However, while I could recall the trajectory of the evening, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't recall any specifics.

"Damn it." I muttered into my pillow. One of the reasons I didn't drink very often was because I tended to get a bit too touchy-feely and all I could do now was hope to Merlin that if something had happened between Nathaniel and I, he couldn't remember it either.

Deciding that my best course of action was just to sleep off my embarrassment, I closed my eyes and drift back to sleep. However, it seemed as if the universe had other plans for me for a few moments later I felt a pillow hit my backside.

While my head was no longer pounding I was still too tired to make a big fuss over what had just happened. Grumbling, I rolled onto my back and narrowed my eyes at the perpetrator.

Seeing the amused look on Emily's face, I frowned and stuck out my lower lip. "What was that for?" I couldn't help but wine.

"Oh stop Rosie." Emily rolled her eyes, a bemused smirk tugging at the corners of her lips. "It's almost two in the afternoon, get up and do something." With that, Emily threw her pillow at my face and walked off.

With a sigh and an overly dramatic roll of my eyes, I shoved Emily's pillow off to the side and threw my legs over the side of the bed.

The castle halls were surprisingly quiet, even for a Sunday afternoon. Half the school was probably busy nursing a hangover. With my books in hand, I slowly made my way down towards the Great Hall. I hadn't had a single thing to eat since the previous evening and I was starving.

As I rounded the corner on the second floor, I spotted a very familiar blonde head. "Scorpius!" I called out without giving it a second thought.

Scorpius kept walking for a second before he finally stopped in his tracks and slowly turned around to face me. The look on Scorpius' face made it obvious that he did not want to be in this situation. "Rose." Scorpius nodded curtly, making me feel like we were back to the beginning of the year when we were first starting to learn how to tolerate each other.

It was then that something seemed to snap within me. He had no right to mess with my head in this way. If he didn't want to associate with me anymore, then he was just going to have to come out and say it. I wasn't about to go quietly, not after he had come out and told me he cared about me.

"So, how are you doing?" I questioned, placing a hand on my hip. I forced a wide, toothy smile and waited for Scorpius' reaction. I was going to push Scorpius as far as I could. He wasn't the only one who could play games.

"Pretty good." Scorpius replied awkwardly. I could see him glancing around nervously.

"Good, good." I nodded my head and smirked, "This morning was pretty rough but I'm feeling much better now. I was actually going to the Great Hall to grab a snack. Care to join me?" My mouth was rattling off a million words a minute. I sounded like an auctioneer.

Scorpius cleared his throat and shifted his weight from foot to foot, "I can't. Sorry."

"Oh, that's too bad." I frowned and tilted my head to the side. "Well, I'll be heading to the library to start that Transfiguration essay after I eat. Want to study together?"

"Um…" Scorpius trailed off and then shook his head, "Sorry, I'm busy later."

"Oh yeah? Doing what?" I questioned. The sickly sweet tone was slowly slipping out of my voice and was being replaced by a harsh, probing tone.

"I was planning on doing some flying around the pitch. I'm afraid I'll get rusty with the lack of Quidditch practice this year." Scorpius laughed, but it was a small, uncomfortable laugh.

"Can I come do that with you?" I batted my lashes expectantly.

"No." Scorpius blurted out.

"Why not?" I snapped, taking a step forward and narrowing my eyes at him.

"What's this sudden desire to spend time with me Rose? Getting a little attached now, are we?" Scorpius deflected.

"What is your problem?" I had come out and said it and now there was no going back.

"Excuse me?" Scorpius frowned, shocked by my question.

"You." I pushed my index finger into Scorpius' chest. "You have a problem and I would really like to know what it is."

Scorpius sighed and grabbed my wrist, pushing my hand down. "Just drop it Rose. It's nothing."

Exasperated, I rolled my eyes. "I can tell when you're lying Scorpius. What is it? Did you finally, after all these months, finally come to the realization that I'm actually a Gryffindor? Is that what it is? Do you have a problem with being friends with a Gryffindor?" That was the only explanation I could come up with. For the past week and a half I had wracked my brain to try and see if I had done, or said, anything wrong, and I had come up blank.

Scorpius' face fell and he looked exhausted, "No I don't have a problem with the fact that you're a Gryffindor." His voice was barely above a whisper.

"Then what in…" My voice trailed off as it suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks. I finally understood why Scorpius' eyes hadn't stopped darting around the hallway, why he had been avoiding me for a week and a half, and why he had pretended as if last nights conversation had been about the trivia challenge. He didn't have a problem with the fact that I was a Gryffindor but there were other people in his life that did.

A bitter chuckle slipped through my lips and I took a step back. Shaking my head, I gritted my teeth, giving myself a few seconds to sort through my thoughts. "Right, but some of your stuck up housemates do. Isn't that right Scorpius?"

Scorpius' eyes darted down to the floor and for a minute, he almost looked embarrassed. "Yes." He wasn't even going to try and deny it.

"That's great." I snapped sarcastically, crossing my arms over my chest. "You get a snarky remark or two and you become the worlds biggest prick. My, you have such a strong sense of character." I bit down onto my lower lip and blinked back the tears that stung my eyes. Clearly, our friendship meant very little to Scorpius.

Scorpius let out an exasperated sigh and shook his head, "Don't act like you understand Rose. Thanks to all of the time I've been spending with you, people started to question my loyalty to the house."

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. The fact that Scorpius had decided to treat me so poorly over such a petty reason infuriated me to no end. I could practically feel the anger bubbling in the pit of my stomach, temporarily pushing away the hurt. "Oh, poor you." I mocked, narrowing my eyes. "I couldn't possibly begin to understand what it must be like to have people making rude remarks over who I'm hanging out with. Every single member of my family is just so welcoming to Slytherins" I rolled my eyes and let out a scoff.

From the way Scorpius was fidgeting I could tell that he was starting to loose his patience with me. "It's different in my situation."

My jaw dropped open as I looked at him in disbelief. "I can't even listen to this anymore." I muttered putting up a hand to get him to shut up. "Well, I have some good news for you Scorpius. From now on, I'll help you to spend as little time with me as humanely possible." With that, I turned on my heel and marched towards the Great Hall. I heard Scorpius shout my name a few times but I didn't even consider turning around.

Fuming, I stomped into the Great Hall and planted myself at the Gryffindor table. Luckily, there were only a few other people in the hall and so there wouldn't be many witnesses to my fit of anger. Part of me regretted walking away from Scorpius without having slapped him clear across the face.

"Hey Rose." The deep voice came from behind me and I let out an exasperated sigh. I was not in the mood to engage in conversation with anyone at the moment.

Glancing over my shoulder I could see Nathaniel smiling down at me, hands stuffed into his pockets, a confident smile gracing his lips.

"Hello Nathaniel." Came my cool response. This was about as polite as I could be to Nathaniel.

Without batting a lash, Nathaniel sat next to me and leaned his back against the Gryffindor table. "So, I managed to recall some of last night's events." From the grin on his face I had definitely kissed him.

I forced a smile and nodded my head, "Good to hear."

"So Rose, I was wondering if you'd like to go to dinner with me next weekend. Figure we could have a proper date." Nathaniel tilted his head to the side and looked at me hopefully.

I opened my mouth, fully intending to accept his invitation. In fact, I was tempted to grab Nathaniel by the face and plant one right on him. That would show Scorpius that I was perfectly fine without him around. As that thought crossed my mind, something seemed to click. I wasn't attracted to Nathaniel in the least, and yet here I was, ready to go out with him for the sole purpose of showing up Scorpius Malfoy.

An audible groan left my lips as I realized that I had become just the kind of girl I had spent years making fun of.

Nathaniel was startled by my reaction, "Rose, if you don't want…"

Holding up a hand, I quickly cut him off. "Sorry Nathaniel, that wasn't directed toward you." Frowning, I shook my head. My thoughts were so jumbled at the moment that I could barely keep myself from stumbling over my words. "I have to go Nathaniel, I'm sorry." Quickly, I gathered up my books and stood up.

"What about my dinner invitation?"

"Sorry, no." I blurted out quickly before turning around and practically jogging out of the Great Hall. There was no time for the library; I had to decide whom I could rope into talking me out of fancying Scorpius Malfoy.