Hello everyone! First off, I promise I'm still alive and writing this story! I know it's only been about two weeks, but I feel awful that I fell off my updating schedule. I could tell you all the reasons why this didn't get posted (going back to classes, 5 tests this week, 2 essays, more problems then I wish to deal with) But now that I'm starting to get back to a normal schedule again, hopefully I'll be updating much more.
This also means that my FANTASTIC, WONDERFUL, AND INCREDIBLE REVIEWERS who were so kind to comment on the last chapter, have not been replied to yet :( But the moment I finish posting this, I am replying to all of you (because you guys are my favorite people in the world!)
Enjoy :)

Chapter 37

Rose and Scorpius left a note on Proffessor Longbottom's desk (as he was not in his office like they had suspected) and walked down to the Gryffindor common room together. Rose considered making him wait so that she could get the invisablility cloak, but at this point there was no use. Besides, if she was able to get them through the crowd quick enough, they might not notice.

Rose walked up to the Fat Lady prepared to give the password, but she interrupted her. "What are you doing here with that Slytherin boy?" she ask, soundly mildly horrified.

"Praepossum" Rose said to her, already growing impatient.

"I don't want him in our common room." She said hautily.

"Praepossum!" Rose repeated angrily.

"Alright alright, here you go" she said as the portrait hole swung open.

Rose grabbed Scorpius' hand and lead him through the huge amount of Gryffindors that were in the seemingly small common room. She saw a few curious glances, but no signs of recognition and so she grabbed a broom that was lying against one of the walls and handed it to Scorpius.

"Take this and fly up to my dorm." She told him.

"Why on earth would I do that?" He asked her with a confused expression.

"Because, the stairs won't let you walk on them, this is easier. No one will notice, I'll just start a distraction." Rose said quickly, and then realized she really didn't have a plan. "Er, THREE CHEERS FOR ALBUS!" she yelled out as loudly as she could. "Let's go Albus!" She started off, praying that everyone would catch on. Luckily, they did and it provided Scorpius just enough time to get stairs. Rose then began to search for someone who wasn't involved in the game that could help her, and quickly found Roxanne.

"Rox I need your help." Rose told her as she ran over to her.

"Why Rose, what's wrong? Where have you been anyway? Off in a broom cupboard with your Slytherin eh?" Roxanne replied with a wink.

"An empty classroom, and that's when Acker saw us. And then left to tell Draco." She told her bluntly.

"Oh dear merlin you're kidding me." Roxanne said, suddenly realizing how serious this was.

"No, not at all. And so I just left to tell mum and dad, and he kicked me out."

"Uncle Ron kicked you out of the house?" Roxanne replied, incredulous.

"At least until the end of term. He said we'd talk, but that he had never been more ashamed of me." Rose told her plainly in order to prevent herself from crying again.

"When did this all happen?" Roxanne asked.

"We just got back a few minutes ago. Scorpius is upstairs in my room, what do I do?" Rose asked.

"What do you mean?" Roxanne replied.

"The whole school will find out if I don't do something, but what on earth can I do to stop that from happening?" She asked pleadingly.

"Rosie, there isn't anything you can do. It's Acker. I hate to be the one to say this, but I bet the whole Slytherin house knows already. They're probably going to use it as an excuse to why they lost the game." She said bitterly.

"But I can't just send Scorpius back to them! That isn't right either." Rose protested.

"Just have him stay with you for the night. You already got him in your dorm, just keep him there." Roxanne suggested.

"You're kidding right?" Rose said. "I can't have him stay there!"

"Why not? It's not like the two of you haven't fallen asleep together before, this time you'll just have chaperones." Roxanne explained.

"But I'm not even supposed to have him up there at all! To have him spend the night is breaking about fifteen school rules!" Rose argued.

"Oh, and you've never broken a school rule before? No one will think to look for him there; he can't even technically get up the stairs. It's fine, just wake up early enough to get him out of the common room."

"But he's spending the night with Olivia, Mackenzie, and Becca." She replied.

"Yeah, and they're the only 6th year Gryffindors who know about this besides Albus and Henry, so you're lucky you don't have any other roommates." Roxanne reminded her. "Look, you asked for my advice, here it is. Spend the night with Scorpius in your dorm so that nothing else happens before tomorrow morning. Live in 'shelter' for one for night before all hell breaks loose in the morning." Roxanne shrugged her shoulders and looked to Rose for a response.

"I… ok. Fine, thanks Rox."

"Anytime Rosie, anytime at all." She said with a smile and gave Rose a hug before going back to the party. Rose went back up the stairs to her room and found Scorpius looking around her room.
"So…this is your dorm?" he asked her nonchalantly.

"Yep, listen, Roxanne thinks it might be a good idea for you to stay here tonight. She's worried that the Slytherin's might not be so…ah, receptive to our relationship. I think she's right." Rose admitted.

"But, your roommates?" He asked with an eyebrow raised.

"As long as there isn't any kissing, we should be fine. They all know about us anyway." She explained.

"Um, alright. We should probably try to sleep then, I think Professor Longbottom will end the party at midnight, it's getting close to that." He said.

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea. Although, you're still in your quidditch robes, lemme go grab some pajamas from Al. Be right back, ok?" She said as she slipped out the door and down the staircase. Sure enough, the party was still raging. She searched the floor for Albus but couldn't find him anywhere. Instead, she spotted Hugo.

"Hu? Where is Al?" She asked.

"I dunno. Last I saw he was snogging Olivia by the portrait hole, but I think they wanted to go somewhere a little more…private. Probably the room of requirement or something." He suggested.

"Well, what about Henry?" She asked.

"I saw him with Mackenzie a few minutes ago, I think they're over by the fireplace." She looked around and saw the Hugo was right, Mackenzie was sitting with her boyfriend's arm around her as they told stories from the game. Rose thanked Hugo and walked over to her two friends.

"Hey Henry, can I borrow you for just a minute? Sorry to interrupt," she said as she barged into his story.

"Not a problem at all Rose," he got up from the couch and walked over to a rather empty part of the common room. "Where have you been tonight? We've been looking for you."

"Yeah about that, well Acker saw Scorpius and I kissing and went to go tell Draco about it. So we wanted to tell my parents before he had a chance to and, um, it didn't go too well. But that's not the point, the point is that Acker is probably telling the entire Slytherin house right now, and so Scorpius is spending the night in our dorm tonight."

"I'm sorry, what?" He asked, incredulous.

"He's only sleeping there, I just don't trust the Slytherins to be smart about their actions. Besides, he's staying one night and then we'll figure something out." She explained.

"You don't think that they'll notice he's not there?" Henry asked.

"No, I'm sure they will. But they'll probably think he is just spending the night in the Room of Requirement or something."

"Wait, why do you need me for this?" Henry asked.

"I need to borrow pajamas, he's still in his quidditch robes." She told him simply. Henry raised an eyebrow at her and then sighed, waving his hand as an indication to follow him. She walked up to the boys dormitories with him and went into the 6th year boys room. It wasn't like she hadn't been here before, she was constantly here because of Albus, but it looked even messier than usual.

Henry began to open his drawers, "alright, he can take the Chudley Cannons shirt that Hugo gave me for Christmas, and here's a pair of pants he can wear as well." He handed the items to her and she gave him a smile.

"Thanks Henry," she said.

"Hey don't mention it. I mean really, don't mention it. Albus wouldn't be too happy to learn that I assisted Scorpius spending the night with you. Even if it is chaperoned."

"Nothing's going to happen, there are three other girls in the room! We're perfectly responsible; we're prefects for merlin's sake!" She exclaimed as she followed him out the door.

"But he is being good to you, right Rose? He's not you know… pressuring you or anything?" Henry began to blush and his eyes were cast downwards.

"Henry, he's a perfect gentleman. I promise." She said with a smirk.

"He better be…" Henry grumbled as he went back to the party. Rose chucked at him and went back up to her dorm with the clothes.

"Here," she said as she handed them to Scorpius. "I got them from Henry."

"Thanks," he said as he began to take off his dirty quidditch gear. He started taking off his shin guards and before Rose knew it, Scorpius was standing by her bed in only his boxers. Rose couldn't help it, she knew she must have looked ridiculous, but she just stood there and stared at him. He had clearly been working out to prepare for the game, because he looked even more muscular then when she last saw him. She was trying to think of another word for his physique, but could only think of one. Beautiful. He looked beautiful.

Scorpius turned his head slightly and caught her staring, only for Rose to turn a deep shade of scarlet and avert her eyes. "Sorry," she mumbled and began rummaging through her drawers to find something to wear.

"It's ok," he said with a smirk and continued getting dressed. When he turned back around, Rose was dressed too in a simple tee-shirt and cotton shorts. He smiled at her and she looked at him quizzically.

"What?" She asked, clearly confused.

"Oh nothing," he said still smiling.

"No really, what?" she asked.

"You're just… you manage to always look so beautiful. I just don't understand it." He said softly as if saying it just to himself. Rose began to blush and walked closer to him.

"So are you," she said quietly and she kissed him slowly but intensely. Scorpius replied enthusiastically, cupping her face in his hands and bringing her closer to him. She felt his lips like fire on hers, and soon they began trailing down her neck. Her breathing hitched and her eyelids fluttered when his mouth found all the right places. Soon she brought his head back to hers and began kissing it fervently; the tingles she felt overtaking her brain. The two of them fell backwards onto her bed and continued kissing, Scorpius lying on top of her. Scorpius' hands roamed over her back while they kissed, his smooth hands running over hear bare skin. It was all getting a bit out of hand when Rose heard footsteps coming up the stairs and quickly pushed Scorpius off of her. Just as they were standing up, Becca came in the room.

"Scorpius? What are you doing here?" She asked.

"Acker knows. He'll tell the entire Slytherin house tonight, we already told my parents. We just wanted Scorpius to stay hear tonight so that he doesn't have to deal with them." Rose explained quickly.

"You realize how many rules you're breaking right?" She said. Rose nodded her head solemnly and replied, "This is sort of our only choice".

The conversation was repeated with her other two roommates until finally, they were in bed with the lights out. Scorpius lay beside her with his arms wrapped around her waist, the two of them trying to fit onto a bed made for one. It was an amusing scene, but all Rose could think about was what may have almost happened if Becca hadn't walked in on them. She hadn't been able to have much alone time with Scorpius because of the game, so they hadn't been like that together in a while. But then again, she pondered how far it would have gone before one of them stepped in. Rose wasn't so sure if she had the willpower to when he was so enticing to her.

As much as her lack of control bothered her, she couldn't help but smiling at the thought. Drifting into sleep was easier than she expected and before she knew it, she was asleep.

The next morning came early, Rose awoke to Scorpius lightly kissing her forehead. "We have to get up, we'll be late for breakfast."

Rose got up and wondered what they were going to do about the clothing situation, as Scorpius still didn't have his robes. She grabbed the invisibility cloak from under her bed and handed it to him. "Go to your room and get some clothes, I'll see you after breakfast." She kissed him on the cheek before he sleepily went down the stairs on the borrowed broomstick.

Rose got dressed and prepared herself for what awaited her in the Great Hall. She practiced making calm, collected, and confident faces in the mirror just in case. Her friends were watching her do this and thought she was out of her mind, but their concerns only grew when she attempted to stay in their room for as long as humanly possible.

"Rose." Becca snapped after a while. "You're being ridiculous. Get downstairs, and face whatever happened last night. The longer you avoid it, the worse it will get." She pointed out simply.

Rose sighed and picked up her books from her bed. With a nod of her head, she followed her other roommates out the door. From the moment she stepped out of the portrait hole, she could feel people staring at her. It made her skin scrawl, all of those eyes fixed on her face. It reminded her vaguely of when she finally left the hospital wing after being attacked, but back then people were ashamed to stare so blatantly. Now it seemed like she had turned into a troll overnight by the looks she was getting.

Her friends attempted to surround her, but there was little use. By the time she got to the Great Hall, she was doomed. As she was walking in she could hear the abnormally loud sound of talking and even gasps going up from the different tables. Girls were whispering in each other's ears, looking around to see who was overhearing even though the entire hall was discussing the same thing. By the time they noticed her, the loud chatter became almost silent. Giggles went up through the crowd and the whispering became much hushed and urgent. Rose tried to stride confidently to her seat, but ended up walking a bit faster than she normally would. She saw Henry and Albus sitting down and quickly went to join them. She took one look at their faces and her stomach immediately dropped.

"Well, since only one person knew about your relationship who wasn't us, naturally the entire school has heard all about it." Albus informed her.

"You're kidding," Rose said. "Everyone? So quickly?"

"Gossip spreads like wildfire, and yours is particularly flammable. The stuff that they're coming up with is becoming insane." Henry said.

"What'd you mean the stuff they're coming up with?" Mackenzie asked.

"Rose and Scorpius' love story has been blown way out of proportion. I've heard so many version today that they're starting to blend," Henry complained.

"Such as?" Olivia asked.

"Well, the most common one is that you two are running away together at the end of this year and raising dragons somewhere in Ireland." Albus informed her.

"You're kidding me right?" Rose asked him.

"It get's better. Other's say that one of you took a love potion made by the other, depending on what house you listen to. Oh, there have been some rumors that Scorpius is using you obviously as a way to get back at your family." Henry added.

"Why can't people just stick to the facts? Acker walked in on Scorpius and I, end of story." She groaned and took a bite of toast. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a red headed girl walking towards her.

"So Rose, I hear you're pregnant," Lily said as she slid into her seat. "Anything you want to tell us? Because I think that Lilly the Third would make a lovely name." She said with a smirk.

"What!" She exclaimed. Albus and Becca began to chuckle, "Guys, this isn't funny. This is awful!" Rose protested.

"Well, you should know that the preggo rumors are coming from a different rumor that Acker walked in on the two of you shagging. That's not true, is it Rose?" Lily asked.

"Of course it's not true! None of this is true! I don't even like dragons!" Rose exclaimed.

"Rose, is it true that you're dating Scorpius to get revenge on his father who killed your relatives? And that when he takes you home you intend on executing a plan to murder Draco?" Amber Brown asked her, sounding shocked.

"Oh shove off Amber," Mackenzie said. "How stupid would you have to be to actually believe that?" Amber recoiled back to her spot further down on the table.

"This is ridiculous. What am I going to do? Wait, where is Scorpius?" Rose asked.

"He already sat down a while ago. He's sitting at the end of his table, not talking to anyone." Albus told her. Rose looked across and saw a very angry Scorpius spearing his eggs and shoving them into his mouth. She could practically see the fury radiating off of him.

"Look Rosie, eventually the rumors will die down. They have to." Henry said to her.

"Rose, apparently you should fear for your life" Roxanne said as she appeared next to them.

"I'm sorry what?" Olivia replied.

"People have been saying that Draco wants to kill you and then disinherit Scorpius for what you two did. That's not true right?"

"No, we haven't heard Draco's reaction yet," Rose said tiredly.

"Well, the good news is that no one knows you left the castle last night, which means that no one knows why." Lily said.

Rose made the mistake of looking up at the teachers' table; only to find many confused faces staring back at her. The worse was Neville, who looked like he had been hit with a brick.

Rose got up from breakfast at that point and caught Scorpius' eye, a clear sign to follow her out. He waited a few moments and then quickly followed her, hoping that people wouldn't put the pieces together. He found Rose waiting for him at the end of the hallway, and once he caught up to her she opened and empty classroom.

"What are we going to do?" She asked him. "I'm sure you've heard the rumors."

"Some of them. Apparently we are going to leave at the end of 6th year and go open a sweet shop in Diagon Alley." He told her.

"And here I heard we were training dragons in Ireland."

"I also heard that your father is going to kill me for dating you in order to avenge his inability to kill my father during the war." He said tiredly.

"Funny, I heard your father was tracking me down as we speak."

"Anything else?" he asked with a weary expression.

"Oh sure, you mean like my plan to murder your father? Or that you're involved in a huge plan to use me? Or what about the time when Acker walked in on us shagging and now I'm pregnant?" she said growing more and more angry.

"You're joking," he replied.

"Nope, apparently the school thinks you knocked me up. I cannot believe this. All of this work, and hiding, and secrecy, and now this entire school thinks we are some couple who murders each other's parents and shags wherever we bloody well feel like it!" She exclaimed and sat down on top of a desk.

"What are we going to do?" He asked.

"I'm not really sure. I guess we just pretend like we never heard any of these rumors? I mean, we can't exactly address the student body."

"But Rose, people are saying you're pregnant. That's a little extreme, don't you think? I don't know about you, but I don't really want our professors thinking that I knocked you up."

"Ugh," Rose groaned and leaned her head back against the wall. "I guess your right. But damn it, how are we supposed to tell everyone?"

"I'm not really sure. I guess we just deny rumors when we hear them. Try and spread the word as much as possible." Scorpius concluded.

"That's not really a plan…" Rose said.

"No, it's not. But what else can we really do?" Scorpius said to her. Rose shrugged and began to drift off into the land of thought, not really paying attention to what was going on anymore. What other solutions do they have? They could try to address the entire Great Hall, but that was extremely unlikely. They could post notices on the common room boards? Ha, that was just a ridiculous idea. How desperate that would seem, and so self-important.

Finally, she reached the conclusion that nothing could be done, and looked up at Scorpius. "I guess yesterday was just the calm before the storm huh?" She said with a sad smile.

"I think this is still the calm before the storm Rose." He said softly. "We haven't heard from my dad yet, the worse is still to come".

So now everyone knows! Except we haven't heard from Draco yet... that'll be the next chapter :) Review?