"Never . . . that I was aware of," Scorpius said. There had been times at Hogwarts when he'd sensed that someone was watching him, but he'd figured it was Moaning Myrtle and ignored her until the hairs rising on the back of his neck feeling went away. "Where did she see me? The Prefect's Bath?"

Rose went so pale he thought she would faint.

He said, "I would've hexed her if I'd known she was spying on me."

Colour rushed back to Rose's face. Her cheeks were bright pink. She shook her head.

"It wasn't the Prefect's Bath?"

There was a sound like rocks banging together. Scorpius turned. Sendak stood in the doorway; the rock sound was him clearing his throat. The troll stepped aside to allow a wizard and his date to enter the ballroom. Scorpius stepped forward to greet Aaron Rosier and Magaera Vane.

The couple had dressed to contrast as much as possible. Aaron was blond, wearing black, and Magaera was dressed in white robes that looked stark against her inky upswept hair.

"I hope we're not late," Aaron drawled.

"Fashionably so." Scorpius silently cast a Legilimency spell as they shook hands. Aaron was no Occlumens. His mind was open to be influenced. Scorpius thought Trackingbrall as he said, "Rose, Aaron was an exemplary student, so I'm sure your paths never crossed, but you remember Magaera from Lumos Duo."

Rose said, "Of course. Nice to see you again, Mags, and nice meeting you, Aaron."

Magaera's nostrils flared. She gritted out, "Likewise," and pulled Aaron away.

"He knows nothing about Trackingbralls," Scorpius said. He hid his unease with a slight smile. "Why did you call Magaera 'Mags'?"

"It was either that or bitch."

Rose's expression was too fierce. Scorpius asked, "Did you see something in her mind that offended you?"

"She thinks you should be with Orna so she can have Guy."

"I don't care what she thinks."

"I know. It just brought up the image I saw in Orna's mind and—" Rose released a sharp breath. "It doesn't matter."

"Yes, it does. Do you want to go somewhere private and talk?"

"Not now. We have a job to do." Rose lifted her chin. "Let's go peek into everyone's brains."

She was right. They needed to put away emotion and keep their mental guard up while using Legilimency. Scorpius led her toward the nearest cluster of guests. It wasn't hard to make eye contact and dip into his former classmates' thoughts. He kept his targets talking by asking about careers, family, mentioning an article about a Quidditch team someone followed or by noticing a change in appearance like a different hair colour. Rose complimented guests on their dress robes and chatted a few times about James's stats with Puddlemere United.

Everyone responded with smiles, although a few were reserved. Surprisingly, what he saw most often when he used Legilimency to discover a person's thoughts about the Knights of Walpurgis was an image of a father or grandfather. Some read Wizard Tales to their children. Some lectured. Some ranted as they shook a Daily Prophet.

Kyle Pucey was different. His thoughts focused on a meeting that had taken place in the library of a house Scorpius knew well: Goyle House. Kyle, Edgar, and Aaron Rosier sipped Firewhiskey together. Edgar offered the men one of Gregory Goyle's prized Nicaraguan cigars.

"Imogen is a Siren's Secret model," Rose said. "Isn't that interesting?"

Scorpius took the hint to stop using Legilimency and replied, "I imagine it's hard work."

Imogen assured them that it was and told them about her intensive training and long hours. Rose nodded sympathetically and then said it had been fascinating talking to them.

"You pushed the Legilimency so far I thought he was going to catch on," Rose said as they walked away. "What did you see?"

"I'll tell you later," he replied. "I want to dance." The music playing was a rare slow song. Slytherins preferred fast beats. He unfastened his dress robes. Rose shrugged hers off. Her dress glittered, bringing his eyes to creamy bare shoulders. He draped their robes over the back of an empty chair. They joined the two couples already dancing: Merry and Albus and Zod and Annis.

As soon as Scorpius and Rose began to dance, the rest of the guests followed.

"I told you that's why no one else was dancing," Merry said to Albus. "It's one of those Slytherin things."

Albus laughed. "You're saying we broke protocol?"

Scorpius danced Rose closer to Albus so he could tell him without shouting, "Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs are exempt."

Annis's booming laugh rang out. "What about Ravenclaws?"

"They should know better," Scorpius said, "But if they own the place, they can dance whenever they like."

"Good answer!" Zod said. He was wearing Annis's top hat, and she was wearing his fur cap. At the end of the song they switched hats and left the dance floor.

"I like them a lot," Rose said. The new song was fast tempo, but they continued to sway together.

"I'm glad." He bent his head to ask, "Anyone else you've met tonight that you find likeable?"

"I like the Harpers." Rose bit her lip. "I think they have money problems. Lauren's thoughts were about Harrison filling out an application for the trainee property manager position at Malfoy Enterprises."

"I'll ask him about it."

"Hey, Scorpius! I remember this song from our last House party!" Nathaniel and his date were dancing nearby. Nathaniel had more enthusiasm than rhythm.

Scorpius started moving to the beat instead of swaying, but he kept his arms around Rose. She said, "You better hope Crispin doesn't take a picture of us. It would look like dirty dancing."

"Not in this tuxedo. Every move is magically elegant and tasteful."

The smile was back in her eyes. "Oh, really?"

His hands slid down to her hips. "Classy at all times, Galleons back guaranteed."

She was moving in time with the beat, their bodies brushing together. "Define classy."

"You."

Rose's eyes darkened to sapphire. He started to kiss her and stopped when Albus said, "All this dancing is making me thirsty! Let's go have a drink!"

Scorpius asked Rose, "Does he always have such bad timing?" before taking her hand and reluctantly following the other couple.

Albus led the way to one of the tables on the side of the room with the sushi bar. "Merry's hungry," he said.

Merry asked Rose, "Come help me decide which sushi to try while they get drinks."

"I'll fetch our dress robes," Scorpius said. They were on the other side of the ballroom.

Albus said, "I'll get the drinks. White wine goes with sushi, right?"

"Right," Merry said as she pulled Rose toward the sushi bar.

It took longer than Scorpius expected to circle around the room. He had to stop and chat for a few minutes every time someone called out his name. Not that he minded. Unlike the dinner at Lumos Duo, he didn't feel that this party was a waste of time and money. Slytherins his age might believe they were better than other wizards and Muggles, but most wanted to simply enjoy life. They weren't interested in the Knights of Walpurgis.

The dress robes weren't where he'd left them. Orna, Guy, Magaera and Aaron were sitting at the table. Guy said, "The security troll took your robes."

"Impudent, grabby creature," Aaron said. "No wonder my uncle sacked him."

"He put him in a sack?" Magaera asked blearily.

Scorpius idly wondered if she'd personally emptied one of the champagne bottles on the table. "I believe my grandfather made Sendak a better offer."

Aaron glared at him and Scorpius took the opportunity to cast a Legilimency spell and search for a memory of the meeting with Edgar and Kyle.

Three men smoking cigars. Edgar speaking. His words were easy to read.

Don't worry about Malfoy.

Scorpius put the memory away to deal with later. He said, "I beg your pardon. It's not our quarrel."

Aaron relaxed. "No, it isn't."

"Have you tried the tapas?" Scorpius asked. "Guy can tell you if they compare to the tapas on the Costa del Sol. His grandparents have a villa there. If they're trendsetters, they've painted it lime green." He sounded like his grandfather, a reaction to Aaron's tone. No one could out-snob Lucius Malfoy.

Guy preened at the reference to his tux.

"I wanna go," Magaera said.

Orna smirked at her friend. "Maybe we'll invite you to tag along."

Guy winked at Magaera.

If that meant what Scorpius thought it meant, Guy risked losing both Orna and his job with her father's company. "Have a good evening," he said and slowly made his way back to Rose.

"I ate your share of the sushi," Merry said apologetically.

"I'm not hungry." He reached for the one full glass of wine.

"Someone driving you to drink?" Rose asked.

Scorpius resisted the urge to look over his shoulder and check whether Rose could have seen him standing beside Orna's table. He sipped the wine. "Just thirsty."

"You're popular tonight," Albus said. "From the empty tables around, the rest of us are pariahs."

"Outsiders," Scorpius said. "If you were pariahs they would have cast you out."

"He's as smart as you are," Merry said to Rose. "If one of you calls the other a know-it-all, it's the cauldron calling the kettle black."

"My mother was a Black," Scorpius drained his glass. "Let's dance."

On the dance floor, he could almost physically feel Rose using Legilimency to try and slip through his mental defences. Her expression was serene. He visualised mirrors reflecting how beautiful she was, how no one else compared and no one else mattered.

She stopped dancing. He took her into his arms. Kissing Rose at Slytherin party, lost in her embrace, oblivious to the whistles and yelled comments was a long-standing fantasy that couldn't begin to compare with the reality: her mouth, her skin, her hands sliding up his chest. When her hands gently pushed, he murmured. "Are we making a spectacle of ourselves?"

"A classy one, since you're wearing that tux."

Her voice had a thread of laughter in it. He opened his eyes. Hers were shining. He smiled. "I'm suddenly hungry. Want to share some tapas?"

The hags applauded when Scorpius and Rose came over to their bar. Scorpius bowed and Rose curtsied. The hags cackled. He realised that there was a family resemblance in the wide smiles and wider shoulders. Aunt, mother, and daughter, he'd guess.

When Scorpius asked for one of everything, the daughter that had served Crispin the almonds immediately reached beneath the counter and presented him with a tray and two dark green bottles of Spanish beer.

She said, "I put a stasis cover on the food it to keep it fresh." When he thanked her, she said, "Tell your photographer I'm saving another tray for him."

"I will." Most of the tables on this side of the ballroom were occupied. Scorpius saw the Harpers sitting at a table. They were watching the dancers. Lauren said something to Harrison and patted her stomach. Harrison put his hand over hers. Scorpius asked Rose, "Shall we join them?"

"That would be nice."

Harrison and Lauren seemed delighted that Scorpius and Rose wanted to sit at their table.

"It's an amazing party," Lauren said. "Who would have guessed that the Sleazy Kneazle could have rooms like this?"

"You've only been here on karaoke nights?" Scorpius said jokingly.

Lauren blushed.

Harrison said in a low tone, as if admitting an embarrassing flaw, "We both enjoy singing."

Scorpius's first reaction was "How Hufflepuff," but since he regularly engaged in public displays of affection, he was reminded that Slytherins in glass houses shouldn't throw Blasting Curses. He asked, "What about property management? Would you enjoy that?"

"Uh, um, v-very much."

"I'll inform personnel Monday morning. Arrive at ten. They'll have the paperwork ready."

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it." Scorpius tried a courgette flower stuffed with goat's cheese and drizzled with honey.

"I loved that one," Lauren said.

It was a little too sweet for Scorpius's taste.

Rose nudged a dish of Padron peppers his way. "He prefers spicy."

Harrison grimaced. "Those are like Bott's Beans. Most of them are mild and sweet, and then you bite into one that sets your mouth on fire."

Scorpius ate one and savoured the pleasant burn in the back of his throat. "That's the fun of it." He offered one of the small green peppers to Rose. She declined. He bit into it and smiled. "Another spicy one. Usually, it's one in ten."

Rose said, "I wouldn't be surprised if Annis made sure all yours were spicy."

He drank a third of his beer. "That would be too much of a good thing." He eyed the pan con tomate Rose was holding. She broke the toast with tomato in two and handed him half.

"Gracias," he said.

Her lips curved. "De nada."

After they finished eating, Scorpius and Rose went around the ballroom chatting with guests, danced some more, and eventually said goodbye to those who, like the Harpers, started leaving around midnight. Crispin left earlier to finish writing his article and develop the photographs. Scorpius noticed that Merry and Albus, when they weren't dancing, hung out with Zod and Annis. He wasn't jealous that his old friends got on so well with his new ones. Zod was probably telling the same jokes Scorpius had heard a dozen times. Or his Wizarding War stories. He had some really good war stories.

At two in the morning, the DJ called out, "Last song and last orders!" Most of the remaining guests headed for the dance floor instead of a bar.

Merry dragged Albus over to Scorpius and Rose. "I want to be able to say I danced from the beginning to the end."

Albus told Scorpius, "There would be a queue at the bar at any Gryffindor party with free alcohol."

Amortentia began to play. Rose leaned her head on Scorpius's shoulder. "Did you request this before or during the party?"

"Before."

She lifted her gaze. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. You haven't done anything wrong." Her lips thinned. "I let Orna to get to me. All night, I've wanted to hex her and Mags—"

"Do it."

Rose looked torn. "They didn't show me those thoughts on purpose. It wouldn't be fair."

"Temporary hexes," Scorpius said. "Acne vulgaris. Halitosis. Body odour."

She glanced over to where Guy and Orna were practically fused together. Nearby, Magaera watched the other couple over Aaron's shoulder. An impish spark flared in Rose's eyes. "Body odour?"

"Puteo." Scorpius felt a tingle as Rose silently cast the spell that literally meant "You stink."

Guy was the first one affected. He coughed and pushed Orna away. "Merlin's balls, I told you not to eat the sushi. You smell like rotten fish!"

Magaera giggled drunkenly.

Orna rounded on her. "Did you do this to me, you jealous cow?"

"No! I hate fish!" Magaera staggered backward, keeping Aaron between herself and Orna. She started to gag. "Stay away from me!"

"You girls should work this out," Aaron said, stepping away from them like the rest of the crowd.

Orna stalked toward her friend. "I'm going to pull every fake hair off your head."

Magaera said, "No! I'm going to—" She vomited on Orna's dress.

Orna screeched and yanked out a hank of Magaera's hair.

Rose's eyes were wide. She seemed caught between horror and glee.

"PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!"

Zod and Annis walked through the laughing onlookers, wands raised. On stage, the DJ ended the song with a twist of an Orpheus Orb and said, "Goodnight Slytherin House!"

The crowd cheered.

"We'll take care of the ladies," Annis said. "Say goodbye to your guests and tell anyone who isn't fit to Apparate that our staff will escort them to our private Floo."

Scorpius and Rose bid their guests farewell. The smiles and excited chatter assured them that the evening's ending was viewed as vastly entertaining and perhaps even the highlight of the party. Half the guests needed to Floo home. The other half couldn't wait to owl friends to tell them what they missed. The DJ packed up his equipment and left with a grin on his face.

Once all the guests were gone, including Orna and Magaera, who ended up clean and sober but not speaking to each other, the six of them gathered at the Victorian bar. Zod served coffee.

"I can't wait to see the photos," Merry said. "I hope he made extra copies."

Scorpius asked Rose if she'd like to step out and talk. They could use Zod's private office.

"I'd rather wait until we're home," she said.

A half-hour later, Crispin rushed in. He'd changed into a track suit and trainers and apologised for being late. "I don't know what happened," he said. "Everything was done, put in packets, one for the Prophet editor, one for you, and then . . . ." His brow furrowed. "I must have dozed off."

"We haven't been waiting long," Scorpius said. He read the Daily Prophet article while the others looked through the photographs in the second packet. "This is exactly what I wanted," he said as he scrutinised the photographs that would accompany the short article describing the party.

"So that's why the RSVP included a right to use image agreement." Merry peered over his shoulder. "Why aren't Albus and I going to be in the paper?"

"We aren't Slytherins," Albus said. "You'll have photos to show your dad."

"And your parents too." Merry pointed to the photo of Rose and Scorpius dancing. "That's gorgeous."

The contrast of slow dancing and fast, the brightness of their clothes against the darker attire of the Slytherins around them was riveting. "You're an artist," Scorpius told Crispin. "If the Daily Prophet doesn't offer you a staff position after this, they're fools."

"I'm not sure if I want one anymore," Crispin said. "Not if I get more work from you." He chuckled.

Albus picked up a photo. "Maybe this one should be destroyed. Can you imagine what the Intruder would do with it?"

It was the photograph of Scorpius, Rose, and Albus lifting their glasses in a toast. Scorpius's dimple was showing. He cast a spell without thinking. The photograph vanished.

"I was taking the piss out of you. I didn't mean it!" Albus said.

"Are all the negatives in the packet?" Scorpius asked.

"Of course," Crispin replied. He gathered the photos and article for the Daily Prophet. "I'd best be off."

"Use our Floo," Zod said. "Annis and I will show you the way." He clapped Scorpius on the arm. "I'll return in a few minutes to let in the cleaning staff."

Scorpius waited until it was just the four of them to share what he'd discovered about his former classmates' views about the Knights of Walpurgis.

"I saw the same thing," Albus said. "Not that many people looked me in the eye." He shrugged. "This group of Slytherins might not care about enforcing pure-blood supremacy, but they won't speak out against it, and they blame my father for pretty much everything the Ministry does."

"Well, he is all powerful," Scorpius said.

Albus laughed. "Not in our house."

Merry asked, "Did you find out if Aaron paid someone to steal the Trackingbrall? He and his friends avoided me and Al, so we had no luck."

"Me either. He has no memories of anything to do with it."

"That's disappointing," Albus said, "but it was great party."

"Fabulous," Merry said. "Did you know that Annis is a Weird Sisters fan? I invited her and Zod over for dinner so they can meet Dad." She looked at Scorpius expectantly, so he nodded, although he'd thought Annis liked death metal and he was annoyed that Merry had invited the couple over before they'd had dinner with him and Rose. She beamed. "You and Rose will come too? Marvellous! I said Friday at eight, because I'll have to tidy the flat, and I like to put off tidying as long as possible."

Rose asked, "What can we bring?"

"Wine? Beer? I don't know what we're having yet."

"She likes to put off thoughts of cookery as long as possible," Albus said.

Merry giggled. "True."

The doors at the other end of the ballroom opened. Hags with mops and buckets and wands in hand to cast Cleaning Charms marched in and began to work.

"There's our cue to leave," Albus said. He hugged Rose and shook Scorpius's hand. "See you Friday."

Merry hugged Rose and kissed her cheek, hesitated, and then briefly hugged Scorpius before saying goodbye and pulling Albus toward the exit.

"I wasn't going to hex her," Scorpius said. He saw Sendak waiting for them, robes draped over his arm. It was time to go home.

.

Felix was hunting for the Galleons they'd hidden earlier when they returned to the flat. He brought a Galleon over to them and dropped it on the marble entry floor. Scorpius knelt down to pet the Niffler. Rose said she was going to take a shower and kept walking toward their bedroom. He rubbed Felix's belly. If he'd done nothing wrong, and she'd paid Orna and Magaera back for their thoughts with the hex, why had she acted more and more tense the closer they got to the flat? In the lift, she'd stared at the floor as if she didn't trust him not to attempt Legilimency.

He went to the wardrobe to take off his socks and shoes and hang up his robes, jacket, and tie. Rose's dress was on the floor. Her shoes were on different sides of the wardrobe as if she'd kicked them off. In the bathroom, Rose stood beside the tub wrapped in a grey towel. She'd washed off her makeup. He asked, "Did you change your mind about the shower?"

She said, "You were in your dorm room, not the Prefect's Bath. Orna saw you naked from the back. It was like she sat up in bed, opened the curtains, and saw you getting dressed."

"Guy must have sneaked her in with a Disillusionment Charm."

"I realised that," Rose said. "I think she had to go to the loo and found out you aren't a late sleeper. She closed the curtains right away."

Not out of consideration: Orna wouldn't want to get caught. "But you're still upset."

"With myself. I hexed her for peeping and I've done worse." She took a breath and slowly released it. "Much worse."

"I don't believe it."

His automatic denial sparked Rose's temper. "Why? Because I was Head Girl? Some kind of role model? You more than anyone should know I have hormones like every other girl."

What was she trying to say? She'd seen Teddy Lupin naked?

"Don't look at me like that! It wasn't Teddy!" Rose crossed her arms across her chest. "At the beginning of seventh-year, Moaning Myrtle showed me a hidden passageway and a mirror that looked into the Prefect's Bath."

No wonder she'd turned pale and then blushed. "You saw someone bathing?"

Rose's face was turning pink, but the emotion flashing in her eyes was as much anger as embarrassment. "I saw you training for your Second Task Swim! What were you trying to prove, that Slytherins can be as reckless as Gryffindors? What if the Grindylows had overpowered you? Do you really think Edgar could have done anything to help?"

"You were there?" His mind was spinning as he tried to put together the pieces. "How did you find out?" No one since Harry Potter had swum for an hour in Hogwarts Lake—the time given to complete the second task during the Triwizard Tournament. He'd done it to prove to himself that he could.

"Myrtle. Don't change the subject. Was completing that stupid swim worth risking your life?"

"Yes."

"And then you kept it a secret."

She'd been impressed. He could hear it in her voice, see it in her eyes. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"That I watched you swim, had Myrtle be my spy, and then went down to the lake instead of reporting you? That I was a peeper and a stalker? When was I supposed to do that? The first time we went swimming together? The first time we made love?" She put her hands on her hips. "Should I have pinched your arse and said, 'wow, I really missed something when you didn't take the Speedo off in the Prefect's Bath that time I was peeping?' Or maybe, 'that hydrodynamic suit you wore in the lake was clingy, but seeing you in the flesh is so much better'?"

"I would have been flattered."

Her eyes were still snapping. "It was one time. I went to my Head of House and made sure no one else would use that mirror."

Scorpius smiled. "You didn't want anyone else looking at me?"

"Not the way I was looking at you!"

He unbuttoned his shirt. "How were you looking at me?"

"You know."

He took off his shirt and unfastened his trousers. "Tell me and you won't feel guilty anymore."

She sighed. "I didn't feel guilty for looking. I felt guilty for what I was thinking."

He stepped out of the tuxedo trousers. "Pretend I'm wearing a Speedo. Tell me what you were thinking."

Rose whispered, "Take it off."

.

.

A/N: And to think when I started this chapter that I thought it would be around 3,000 words. I hope everyone enjoyed the party and after party. If there's anyone who hasn't read the one shot Peeping Rose, I hope you'll want to do so now. :D The readers whose reviews last chapter made me look forward to their reactions to this one are: alix33, Bourbon and chocolate, ctc, Fryron, fynnsmom, HopeWithinDarkness, Mme bookworm, Needle In A Haystack, nobodysperfect2133, rosesnlilies, The Chirpy Bitch, trinityblue76, and yiota146.