(resubmitted for corrections of minor errors - sorry) This is a big one. Please don't hate me for this! More will be coming, and the adventure never stops! Just don't be mad...this is necessary and you'll soon see why...

As much as Albus pushed and tried and urged, Scorpius simply could not eat as much as his friend desired him to. He honestly felt bad—it wasn't Albus's fault that he simply couldn't enjoy a meal like any normal seventeen-year-old boy. But he found himself snapping at him sometimes when he'd catch the Potter boy using his wand beneath the table to magically enlarge his portions when he wasn't looking. So it was safe to say that when Quidditch tryouts came around, Scorpius was in no physical form to even attempt a tryout. He wasn't giving up—he just knew his limits. His father and mother constantly wrote letters to him detailing the pride and respect they held for their son, and more importantly his realization that he couldn't mold himself into something he wasn't meant to be.

Scorpius was pretty satisfied with the way things were working out presently. He was comfortable with his abilities (or accepting, for lack of a better term) and he appreciated any support he received from his family, his best friend, or his girlfriend. However, if he could change one thing, it would have to be the nightmares. Sure, he'd occasionally have a flashback of his father's past, but not so much anymore. Now he was just seeing horrible worst-case scenarios that made him sit bolt upright with fear; Chrissy falling deathly ill, the Potter/Weasley clan killed in a Hogwarts Express derailing, someone sneaking in and murdering his parents in their sleep in revenge….All things that made his heart race and his mind want to delay sleep. He often told Chrissy about the things he saw—but never that they were about her. Sometimes he'd have to switch some parts around so that she wouldn't die, or she didn't get mauled by a Basilisk. But he told Albus everything. Every part of every dream. He just felt easier doing that around his guy friend than with her; the problem was that he never wanted to look weak in her eyes.

One day during Divination class, Professor Terwether was giving a quick lesson about how to use a crystal ball. Albus kept poking the glass structure with his quill throughout the dissertation, so when it came time for him to looking side their future, he had no idea where to begin. "You go first," he whispered to Scorpius who was sharing the ball with him. Scorpius shook his head. "Terwether said the eldest looks first! You have to!" he replied. Albus sighed. "You were born early—doesn't that count for something?" Scorpius kicked him under the table. "Quick, she's coming!" he reminded. Albus instantly pretended to busy himself with the crystal ball, occasionally jotting things down in his notebook. The woman approached him. "What do you see lies ahead of you, Mr. Potter?" she serenely asked. Scorpius had to bite his lip to prevent from laughing as Albus turned four shades of red, scratched his head, and squinted into the glass. "Er…I-I thought I saw a tree…" he muttered. The teacher bent in to look closer, her eyes widening at the swirling smoke within. "A tree? Heavens, no! That's clearly a dragon! Dragons symbolize power and might—you have a circumstance awaiting you in the future that will either prove your power or cause you to seek your own wisdom through an event. A tree…silly boy." she explained. "Mr. Malfoy! Have you gotten the chance to peer inside your path ahead?"

"No, ma'am. Not yet."

"Let us look now….ah, yes…my…my word…you've got big changes ahead of you."

"C-Changes?"

"I see a turning leaf—one falling in the breeze. There's your tree, Mr. Potter. But, I digress….yes, Mr. Malfoy, your crystal ball shows a turning leaf, one that is green and vivid—which indicates life. To interpret this you need to go exactly by what you see."

"So…I will have a turn of events in my life…?"

"Very good, Mr. Malfoy. Very good. Indeed, you are heading for some different styles. Prepare yourself for a twisting tide."

The woman slipped away over to Rose's table, leaving the two boys exchanging surprised looks. "Dragon…you're going to have to prove your strength. How?" Scorpius asked.

"I dunno. Turning leaf? Isn't everything of yours constantly changing?"

"Story of my life."

"I wonder if the two go together. Like…will I have to see my personal power to help you in a difficult situation…?"

"She didn't say mine would be difficult…just different. And if that's a possibility, I'd love to have these events be together. I like when you use the power for me."

When the bell rang, the students all rose from their crystal balls, chatting about what they saw. Scorpius smiled and walked over to Chrissy's seat as she busily put things into her bag. "How was your reading?" he asked, hoping she'd offer a comforting explanation for his future change. She kept her head down as she fidgeted with a book. "It was really interesting. Look, I'd love to walk with you to Herbology, but I've got prefect duty I have to attend to. So I'll just see you later." she quickly said, tucking her hair behind her ears and not looking up. Scorpius reached for her hand. "Is everything—"

"Ugh, it's fine Scorpius. Don't worry about it. You've got enough to take care of."

"A-Alright…let me know how prefect duty goes."

"See you,"

"I love you,"

But Chrissy slipped her hand out of Scorpius's and fled the classroom in a hurry before she could reply with the same sweet sentiment. Scorpius stood there for a moment, trying to convince himself that she really did had prefect duty—after all, that was an important job. His father was a prefect. Of course she had to be on top of things. It wasn't personal. Right?

So at dinner that night, Scorpius kept checking across the Great Hall for Chrissy's signal. She chatted with her friends, ate like normal, even giggled at that Rydeki boy's jokes a lot. But she never gave the signal. In fact, she just left the Great Hall without even looking at Scorpius at all. The boy felt his breathing quicken—was it something he said? Was it something he did or didn't do? They weren't all that physical, so maybe she was becoming frustrated with his insecurities? He glanced miserably down at his plate to eat one pea at a time, only to realize that the Great Albus Severus Potter had struck again—his tiny chicken wing had grown to the size of a large potato. "Albus, I told you...I can't eat like that. It's not…I can't control this." he trailed off to a whisper. But all Lily needed to hear was the first part of his sentence to reach over, picked up the monstrous wing, and club her brother over the head with it. Though she was scolded by Nearly Headless Nick, she looked across the table at Scorpius and mouthed, "Worth it," with Rose right there to give her an approving high-five.

Scorpius wandered the halls a bit after dinner in hopes of catching Chrissy in passing and asking if she was alright. But hours went by with no sight of her. Sighing, Scorpius headed towards the boys' bathroom to freshen up a bit before heading to the Gryffindor tower for the night. When he entered, he realized he was the only one around. That pleased him. As he walked towards the sink and turned the faucet for warm water, he suddenly heard a bubbling sound coming from behind him. The toilet in the third stall from the left was leaking water right out the top in spurts. This hadn't ever happened before. Scorpius turned to watch with wide eyes—he almost fainted when a head popped out of the porcelain seat. A loud, shrill cackle pierced the echoing space. "Myrtle!" he shouted, putting hand to his chest. "Don't do that! You scared me!"

"Every time, little Malfoy! Every single time you fall for it!" she screeched with laughter. The ghost shot straight up to the ceiling, hovering above him. "I've got a secret!" she taunted childishly.

"What is your secret this week, Myrtle?"

"…I can't tell you!"

"Well fine then. Just bottle it all in until you explode."

"…You…WAS THAT A DEATH JOKE?!"

"What? No! I was just reminding you what you tell me whenever I don't feel like talking to you—"

"NOBODY EVER WANTS TO TALK TO MOANING MYRTLE BECAUSE SHE'S JUST SO BOOOOORING! POOR MOANING MYRTLE—SHE MUST NOT EVER HAVE ANY INTERESTING STORIES, BECAUSE HOW MUCH CAN THINGS CHANGE WHEN YOU'RE DEAD?!"

"Will you stop overreacting? You're so dramatic."

"Fine! I guess I'll just have to bore you with my special secret as punishment then."

"Please, enlighten me."

"I saw Chrissy Creevey kissing Nolan Rydeki!"

"…What? Shut up. You're such a drama queen."

"You think I'm not being serious? I have access to every bathroom in the entire school—girls' and boys'. And believe me, the girls' prefect bathroom was getting much, much action today…"

"You're such a liar. You're only doing this to get under my skin."

"Anybody else would be grateful for my insight into their relationships!"

"Since when has anybody ever been grateful for your incessant spying?"

"WELL I GUESS DUMB OLD MYRTLE IS JUST TOO PESKY TO BE AROUND, HM?!"

With that, the shrieking girl flushed herself down the toilet she popped out of. Scorpius rolled his eyes. She'd been purposefully scaring him for several weeks now, and it usually ended with him making a sarcastic comment towards her annoying behavior which she got upset over nine times out of ten. This was nothing new. But a little voice in the back of his head kept asking him to believe what the ghost had said—told him to confront Chrissy and ask what was going on….

Scorpius headed up to bed with his mind abuzz with thoughts and images of Chrissy kissing another boy; that couldn't be possible. They said they'd stay together forever. But just before Scorpius was able to slip his shirt off, he noticed a small note resting on his pillow.

Scorpius,

Meet me at the entrance to the Great Hall by midnight.

~Chrissy

Scorpius raised his eyebrows—he was glad he found the note in time. It was nearly quarter-til. So he quickly threw a robe on over his skin-and-bones and hurried out of the dormitory, ignoring James's asking where he was headed so late. Scorpius knew he had to be both quiet and careful; even though sixth-years had an extended curfew, it certainly didn't go this late. He ducked behind a stone pillar just in time to avoid a rather blind cat of old Filch's strolling by. The moment he saw the Great Hall, Chrissy peeked her head around one of the entrance pillars to wave him over. He silently sprinted across the open space to meet her behind the stones, grabbing her hands playfully and leaning in to kiss her.

But Chrissy turned her cheek.

A little confused, he looked into her eyes for an answer. "Scorpius, we need to talk." she murmured. He held one finger up to her lips. "Hold on. I know where we can go that we don't have to whisper. My father told me how to get there—follow me!" he replied. He took her hand and quickly hurried across the hallway and waaaaay far down until there was nothing but wall in front of them. "Stay here," he whispered to her. Closing his eyes, he began to pace back and forth, concentrating on one thought only. I need a place that's comfortable for two lovers to hold a conversation… he repeated over and over in his brain. Within seconds, a door appeared on the smooth wall. Chrissy gasped. He turned the handle and led her inside, inhaling sharply at the sight of the little space.

The room was warm and had two chairs in front of a fireplace, with a little bed off in the corner and a small tableset off to the right. It looked like a tiny little apartment. Once the door was shut, Scorpius let out his breath. "Nice, isn't it?" he asked. She nodded in awe. "My father used to come here when he studied at Hogwarts. He said this is a pretty useful place. All you do is walk back and forth three times, thinking hard about what you need. And this room will give everything to you." Chrissy absently went over and sat in one of the comfortable chairs near the fireplace. Scorpius followed suit, reaching over to hold her hand. But again she pulled away. "Chrissy…"

"I need to say something."

"…Of course.…whatever you like…"

"Scorpius, I can't do this anymore."

"W-What?"

"I can't be your girlfriend. It's too hard to love you now. I tried and tried and tried everything, but I need someone that's going to have less…"

"Less problems?"

"It sounds harsh when you say that. But I mean less…endangerments. You know what I mean. The eating disorder—I can feel it ruining you. I touch your chest and I'm suddenly massaging a skeleton. I kiss your cheek and it's completely hallowed. I run my fingers through your hair and clumps fall out. I…I need someone strong."

"Chrissy…if you think my condition makes me weak, you're very wrong. You've got to have a lot of strength to be able to live through something like this, day in and day out."

"That's exactly my point—it's been three years. Scorpius…don't you think it's time to get better? Don't you think you should see someone about this? Get help? I don't know…I don't know how Albus does it."

"What do you mean by that?"

"He's been your best mate since the very beginning—how does he not feel like you're slipping away?"

"…He feels it. But he doesn't make me see it—he just carries on like normal, but James tells me that in the summer he literally paces while waiting for me to respond to a letter from him. He's always the first one to wake me in the morning because he wants to make sure I'm not dead. He knows."

"…I can't do that anymore, Scorpius. I worry about you constantly and I want to be by your side at every moment of the day. But…it's not possible. And I can't let it keep tearing me apart. So…I think we…need to say goodbye for a little while."

"…Y-You're breaking up with me?"

"I have to. It's best for both of us."

"No…no, I don't want this! I don't want us to be separated! Chrissy…I love you….I don't want anyone else—"

"Scorpius, please don't make this difficult. It has to be done. It is done. We just…need time apart."

"…Is it true you're seeing Rydeki?"

"W-What? How did you—"

"A friend told me about your little escapade in the bathroom today. Is it true?"

"…I'm only trying to better myself. Moving on right away is going to help me, and if that's what I need to do then so be it."

Scorpius leaned back in his chair, fixing his eyes on the fireplace. He was beyond tears at this point; the shock was still setting in. A few minutes of silence passed. "Chrissy…" he said, disgusted with how weak his voice sounded. Maybe she was right… "You made me so happy. Whenever I was with you…whenever I was thinking about you…I was smiling. I haven't had an easy time with my mental state and my emotions. But you were the one thing that remained constant with me. I knew I had you. Hearing you say these things…it just makes me feel like I was stupid all that time…"

"You weren't stupid. It wasn't anything you did, and I'm not mad. It's just…a lot of people take breaks in relationships. It doesn't necessarily have to be permanent…just…for now."

"…I don't really know what to say…."

Chrissy stood up, patted his shoulder, and exited the room without another word. It took several minutes for everything to sink in—for the first time in three years, Scorpius was single. And this wasn't a time where being single was good—he needed all the help and love he could get to pull him through his dark time. Finally, Scorpius let the tears fall. He sobbed and cried and endlessly called her name. No one could hear him. By the time his eyes and throat hurt, he figured he should go to bed and deal with all the leftover emotions in the morning. He didn't even care to conceal himself on the way back up to Gryffindor Tower.

Scorpius simply shed his clothes without bothering with pajamas—he figured his underwear would do just fine for one night. He heard rustling as he climbed into bed; Albus popped his head of his own bedcurtains sleepily. "Where've you been?" he slurred. Scorpius cleared his burning throat. "Walking," he murmured. Albus cocked his head. "With Chrysanthemum?" This caused Scorpius to draw his knees up to his chest on the mattress. "Er…yeah, sort of. She's er…going her own separate way now though…so…" Within an instant, Albus was out of his bed and right by Scorpius's side. "She dumped you?!" he whispered heatedly.

"Just…'for now'…yeah, I guess so…"

"Why?!"

"She said she was worrying more than loving me. S-Said it didn't balance out…I don't know, Albus. It's…I just really don't need this…"

"Come here. Come here. It's going to be alright. She'll come to her senses soon enough. It's ok to cry, Scorpius! Just let it out. I know how a breakup feels, trust me. You've got me on your side. Just let it all out, Scorpius. Just let it all out."

So Scorpius laid on his side, sobbing once more, as Albus gently rubbed circles on his back soothingly lying right beside him. A thousand things ran through his head for his friend; he couldn't believe Scorpius was having to go through this at such an inconvenient time. It was selfish of Chrissy to do to him. But as he hushed his friend and promised him it would be alright, he couldn't help but know that this was not the final closing curtain on Chrysanthemum Creevey's relationship with Scorpius Malfoy. It would not be a permanent end.