Chapter Twenty-Eight:

Everyone was here. Every single person in our year was here. The band was playing, couples were dancing, and the punch bowl was being spiked before my very eyes.

"This is perfect," I told Leanne.

"Definitely," she agreed.

We'd managed to make the room look like a forest on a starry night. I'd enchanted the roof, just like in the Great Hall, to mimic the night sky, and we had quite realistic looking fake trees sprouting along the walls. The floor looked like it was covered in autumn leaves, however in actual fact the floor was, again, enchanted to look like whatever kind of floor the viewer liked best.

"What floor do you see? I asked Leanne.

"I'm seeing dark, wooden floorboards with a rug in the middle," she replied. "What about you?"

"Autumn leaves," I answered. Leanne giggled. "Yours is cooler."

"Hey, Rose," I heard a familiar voice say. I groaned.

"Lily, I told you not to come!" I sighed, looking at her. She was wearing an incredibly tiny lilac mini-dress, and the face make-up was even more overdone than usual. I hadn't even thought that was possible. Even though her outfit was completely inappropriate for a fifteen-year-old...she looked really, really good.

"Please," Lily waved a hand in the air. "Did you really believe for a second that I wouldn't be here? I got Kej to take me," she grinned.

"He's better than Andy," I admitted. Lily grinned at me.

"I've got to run, but I think Al's looking for you," she told me, before running back to a waiting Kej for a fast dance.

Suddenly I spotted Sam chatting to his friends by one of the artificial trees. "Be right back," I said to Leanne, then I dashed over to where Sam stood. He turned at the sound of my high heels clattering on the floor.

"Hey, Rose," he said, sounding surprised.

"Hey. Can I talk to you for a second?" I asked him. He followed me without any further questions into a corner of the room, bewildered.

"What?" he asked. I grinned.

"You know, we still have that note," I whispered, smirking. He snorted with derision.

"What note?"

"The Chocolate Frog note you gave Leanne on our first day," I asnwered. His face froze.

"How do you know that was me?" he asked, a moment later. I laughed.

"Please, your handwriting hasn't changed at all. Do you still think all that's true? Do you still think she's gorgeous?" I whispered, smiling up at him. Sam looked shocked.

"I...well, I..." he stammered.

"Because if you do, go and dance with Leanne right now," I told him.

"What?" he exclaimed.

"I can't believe I kept you to myself this year. You and Leanne are actually perfect for each other. And she thinks your sweet. She told me," I grinned. Sam looked to where Leanne was chatting with Mara and James, then back to me.

"How are you ok with all this? She's your best friend, isn't there like, a rule, or something that forbids girls from dating their friend's ex's?" he asked, incredulously. I tipped my head to one side.

"Yeah, there is. But it's kind of overpowered by the phrase go get her." I explained, and Sam laughed.

"You sure?" he asked. I smiled.

"Completely. Go dance with her before someone else does," I ordered him. Sam grinned.

"Thanks," he said, then dashed off. He paused a few metres away from me.

"You look nice," he offered. I smiled, then made a shooing motion with my hand. He hurried off, and was by Leanne's side barely a second later. The way she looked at him when she saw he was standing there... I was never able to look at him like that.

"Rose!" someone cried. I whipped round to see Al half jogging, half walking towards me.

"Hey, where's your date?" I teased him.

"Where's yours?" he replied, as he arrived next to me.

"Touché," I laughed. Then he was serious.

"Rose, I want to tell you something. Do you remember the Acromantula night?" he blurted out, saying everything quickly, as if he were afraid he was going to chicken out.

"How could I forget that wonderful night?" I asked, sarcasm positively dripping from my mouth like hot butter.

"Well, after that Scorp acted kind of distant with you, did you notice?" he asked. This is unexpected.

"I guess...why?" I asked Albus, confused. Al looked kind of nervous.

"Well, it was because...because I told him to back off. That's why we fought, ok? I thought he was just having fun with you, like with all his other girlfriends, that it didn't mean anything to him...look, I made a mistake, Rose. Please forgive me, and him," he blurted out, begging me.

For a moment I didn't say anything. "Of course you're forgiven, Al. But what do you mean, you told him to back off? What are you saying?" I asked.

Al looked at me unbelievingly. "I mean that I told him to leave you alone, to stop hanging out with you so much..."

"Why?" I asked, my heart pounding much harder than it should have.

"Because I thought he wanted you to be his girlfriend, and I, well...I was freaked out! My best friend, and you...so I told him to lay off," Al looked down at the floor, ashamed.

"Why are you telling me this now?" I demanded. Al rolled his eyes.

"Because...well...I don't know! 'Cos I don't want to keep you two apart anymore?" he sighed. It was my turn to roll my eyes.

"You're not keeping us apart, Al! We're not going out!" I moaned. Al raised his eyebrows at me.

"Ok. Well, well, let me explain something. I'm going to reveal the inner workings of a boy's mind, Rose. Top secret stuff. First, he would have backed off. Then, he would have decided this was too hard to do, so he'd have tried to talk to you again. When he found out you were with Sam, he would have gotten jealous. Then he'd have tried being your friend, to get you to like him again. Eventually, he'd have found that too hard and cracked, doing something like, say, I don't know, grabbing you and hugging you in front of the entire school?" he cried.

For a moment I was stunned. Then it dawned on me. Exactly like dawn - something rose up inside my head, and suddenly it was like I could see again after a long period of darkness. No. Way.

"Oh, my Merlin... Oh, crap!" I breathed. Then I lost control of my voice and I think some more explicit words cam out of my mouth. "I have to...oh crap, I have to find him..." I stammered, still not fully able to comprehend what Al was implying.

Al winked at me. "Thank me later, Rose," he smirked, before strolling off to rejoin his mates. I, meanwhile, dashed madly around the Room of Requirement, searching for a face. I knew I must look slightly mad, but I couldn't help it. I had to talk to him, I had to see if it was true. If it is, I'm going to kill everyone else because they were right.

Suddenly, I saw him. He had his back turned to me, he was chatting to some Slytherins. I walked up to him, and then without pausing to think reached up and tapped his shoulder. Scorp turned around. "Did you get my present?" I asked him, on a spur of the moment decision. I have no idea where I'm going with this.

"See you, Scorp," his friends muttered, as they drifted away. Scorp turned to watch them melt into the crowd, then was instantly facing me again.

"What present?" he asked, confused.

"The Christmas hamper of food," I answer. It took him a moment to remember.

"That was you?" he asked, a few seconds later, smiling slightly. "Why?"

I shrugged. "I didn't want you to be on your own at Christmas," was all I said. Scorpius paused.

"I'd ask if you got my present, but you're wearing it," he chuckled, looking down at my feet.

I breathed in a strange way, making an odd sort of huff sound. "Of course it was you. Did you follow me up to Oxford Street?" I asked, smiling a little.

"Sort of. I told Hagrid you were planning to go to Oxford Street by yourself, so he asked if I wouldn't mind going with you. I went, I just...stayed behind, a little," he muttered.

"You told Hagrid?" I whispered.

"I felt like someone should know where you were. He seemed like the person you'd trust the most," Scorp replied.

"You saved my life," I admitted, looking down at my silver shoe.

"It's a fair cop, I saved your life, then you saved mine,' he said on as an afterthought.

"When?" I asked.

"After the duel with Al. You should really be Healer next year, you know," he added. I brushed this aside.

"Anything else?" I asked.

"Nope, I'm all out of confessions. We good?" he replied.

"Finished," I answered, beginning to walk off.

"You seem kind of angry with me. What have I done this time?" I heard him call out. I whipped round to face him. Actually, I am kind of angry. I took a step closer to him.

"I wasn't angry. But you're so infuriating that I am now. You want to know why? I'll start at the beginning. You act like a total jerk for three years, then you just expect me to forgive you? And when I finally do, you screw it up by ignoring me completely for ages, and then getting mad at me. Then you try to be my friend again, and you seem to expect all this stuff to just suddenly not matter, and for me to run to you like a pet dog or something whenever you decide want me again? No. Just, no, Scorpius," I hissed, looking him in the eyes.

Then I walked away. It felt much better to say all that stuff. To get it off my chest. Because it was all true. I'd ignore the tears that were welling up in my eyes.

I walked over to where Sheila was...she was dancing with her boyfriend John. I tried Harriet...she was dancing with Tom. Mara...kissing James in a corner. Ew. I looked over at Leanne...who was talking quietly, deeply in an intimate conversation with Sam. Willa was by the snack table...dancing with Robert. Is every single one of my friends with someone else right now? Suddenly, I felt as if I were very little and alone, at a party with nobody else I knew. I was lost in all this.

I felt a tap on my shoulder. Scorpius was standing there, right behind me. His face was contorted with a mix of emotions I couldn't comprehend.

"You have every right to be mad, Rose. I've acted like a jerk. But you've not always been great to me, either. So bearing in mind that neither of us are innocent in this, just shut up for a moment!" he exclaimed. I involuntarily took a step towards him.

Suddenly I found his hands were on my back, holding me to him. I discovered that my hands were moving of their own accord, resting on his chest. All this happened in less than a second - I knew what was happening before it did.

He kissed me. His hand tangled itself in my hair, and his lips were warm against mine. In my stomach, I felt a glowing feeling, as if dawn really had risen inside me, and now the sunlight was warming me up from the inside out. I pressed myself against him, my hands moving to the back of his neck, pulling him down slightly, towards me. I think I actually wanted to stop time, right there and then, and just live in that moment forever. Because I knew that all year, everyone else had been right and I'd been wrong. I was pretty sure I was in love with Scorp, and according to everyone else the same had been true for him for a while.

It was the missing piece of the puzzle whenever I'd kissed Sam. That little vision in my head that I might be kissing someone else, who's features were blurred. Now the veil lifted, and the mystery person's features suddenly became crystal clear. It was Scorpius. It always had been, and I hoped it always would be.

He pulled away first. I leant my forehead against his. "You know, I could probably shut up for another moment, or two, or three..," I smiled, feeling the warmth of him against me. This is what prom must be about. Finally getting the guy. Or is it the guy getting me? I'm not entirely sure.

Scorpius chuckled a little. "Why didn't you shut up years ago?" he murmured.

"Because you didn't shut up either," I whispered, pressing my lips once more to his. It was like electricity, literally like an electric shock passed through me, sending my entire body limp.

"Do you think you'll shut up again anytime in the future?" Scorpius asked a minute later, after I'd pulled away.

"Mmm, I don't know about that. You might have to shut me up instead," I whispered, letting my body sway in time to the music. Scorpius hands were on my waist, mine around his neck, but our heads were still extremely close.

"What do you think you'll be doing next year?" I asked him. "Will you do music?"

Scorpius laughed. "I don't think I'd be allowed to disgrace the family name in that way. Besides, Scorpius Malfoy would look terrible on a CD."

"So have a fake name. Loads of people do. Be...Seth Michaels," I offered, smiling up at him. He considered this.

"Well, it's still S.M. I could try it out. Do you think people would really think I'm good?" he asked me, biting his lip.

"I think they'll think you're fantastic," I murmured.

"What about you?" he said, quietly.

"What about me what?" I asked.

"What will you be?" he whispered.

I paused. "Well, I know you were joking earlier, but when you said be a Healer, I hadn't realised how great that actually sounds. I think that's really what I want to do with my life," I realised, looking into his eyes. Scorp smiled.

"Is there anything else you'd like to do with your life?" he smirked. I grinned back.

"Well, maybe...it might come to me in a minute," I whispered, pretending to concentrate hard. Scorp grinned and leaned down to kiss me again, sending a shiver of pleasure through my bones.

"Mmm, nope, definitely nothing else I want," I told him, smiling up at him. Scorpius laughed too, then stopped suddenly.

"You know what this means, don't you?" he whispered, seriously.

"What?" I asked.

"You might have to meet my parents someday," he whispered. I laughed.

"Believe me, my dad will be worse," I whispered, giggling.

"I think that's a risk I'm willing to take," he smiling, before leaning down to crush his lips against mine again.

An old memory suddenly resurfaced. I was standing on Platform 9 3/4 with my parents and cousins. My dad had just pointed out Scorpius to me, and told me to beat him in every test.

"Don't get too friendly with him, though, Rosie," Dad had said.

Sorry, Dad, I thought, looking up at Scorpius face, blissfully happy. That's one promise I can't keep.