So this is the second update of the day. :D

I'd like to thank Rayven49, InSaNeAnNiE, Veronique Ruthven, weasley-potter-05, chellywood, Bubbles23 (thanks for all the reviews!), sujey, DaughterOfMorpheus123 and blaiseredfern for reviewing! You guys are FANTASTIC! I'd also like to thank my beta, rokslite!

When they got back for dinner, Lily, Ly, Lorc and Hu had returned as well.

"Can we join you lot?" Ly asked, moving to sit next to Lily, taking Lorcan's seat.

A bit confused, Lorcan moved to sit opposite them. Hugo took his seat next to Lorc, asking,

"Why did it take you so long to get here?"

"We went back to our dormitories to put our things away," Rose said, serving herself some chicken.

"Did you not want anyone to steal your Sugar Quills?" Hu asked with a grin for his sister. In turn she stuck her tongue out at him.

"You're just jealous," she said, smirking.

"I don't think boys are into sucking, thanks," Ly said, winking at her. "That's more a girl's forte."

While Rose gave him a rather disgusted expression, Lily howled with laughter, falling against his side.

Rose shook her head at his ecstatic look. He put his arm around her and Lily glanced over at Rose, still laughing.

"Y-your face!"

"Thanks, Lil," Rose said, rolling her eyes.

"Why wouldn't boys suck things?" Lorc asked and Lily started laughing again, reaching over to squeeze his hand. Rose watched as Ly's expression dropped as well as the arm around her.

"You're both too much," Lily said, wiping away a tear of mirth.

"What's funny?" Lorcan asked, genuinely puzzled.

"If we give James the photograph, I'm sure he'd see what he could do with it," Ly said, shrugging.

Lily was very concerned about a photo that she had had processed that wasn't moving.

"Who's in it, anyway?" Ly asked her, frowning.

"No one," she said, shrugging, her eyes going wide.

"Right," Ly said, rolling his eyes. "Is it a picture of Lorcan, then?" he asked, irritated.

"No," Lily said, confused. "It's a picture of-" she cut herself off before turning to Rose.

"Do you know the recipe for the potion to make the pictures move, Rosie?"

"I do," she said, "Haven't brewed it in a while, but it's rather simple."

"Will you help me?"

"Did you even need to ask?" Rose said, smirking, pulling her cousin into a one-armed hug. "What is it a photo of, then?" she whispered, grinning at her cousin.

"Lysander," she murmured, blushing. "Without his shirt," she added with a dreamy expression.

Rose rolled her eyes at her.

"You're this obsessed about something as simple as that?"

"It's only his back," she whispered, compellingly, "If it can move, maybe I can see the front too."

When her eyes went slightly blurry, Rose scowled at her.

"Trust me when I say if you just ask him to take his shirt off, he will."

"He's not that conceited, Rose," Lil said, shaking her head and Rose laughed.

For all of Lily's supposed maturity, she really was rather dense, wasn't she?

Rose, Scorp and Al were making their way back up to their common room when they spotted James and Fred in a rather serious, heated discussion. Confused, they looked at each other.

Fred and James never fought. It was almost unheard of.

They made their way closer, but James spotted them and tapped Fred on his chest, nodding towards them. At once, they were both grinning.

"Had fun on your three-way date, then?" Fred asked.

"It was lovely," Rose said, her eyes narrowed at the pair. "Are you both alright?"

"Us? We're fine, thanks for asking. I reckon Fred shagged that bird he took to Hogsmeade, but I can't seem to get the truth out of him," James said, shrugging.

Rose gauged his grinning expression and didn't miss the steely glint in his eyes. Something was wrong.

"Can I talk to you alone, James?" she asked.

He nodded, still smiling. They made their way over to a corner while Al began questioning Fred about his supposed shag.

"What is it?" she asked, at once.

"Nothing you need to worry your pretty head about, Rosie," he said, his smile more of a grimace now, anger blazing in his eyes.

"Did I do something?" she asked, apologetically.

"Never," he said, leaning forward to press a kiss to her forehead. "Take care of yourself," he added, seriously, before slinging his arm over her shoulder.

"If you need more information about those sexual positions, Rosie, you know where to find me," he said loudly.

Rose rolled her eyes as the three boys turned to stare at her in shock.

After leaving James and Fred in the corridor, they met up with Alice. Al immediately pulled her into a snog, making Scorp and Rose pretend to gag, grinning at the couple.

"I've missed you," she said, hugging him close.

"You've only been gone for a few hours," Scorp said, rolling his eyes.

"When you fall in love, young Scorpius," Al said, slapping him on his back a little harder than necessary, "you'll understand."

Scorp sighed, shaking his head.

"I highly doubt that," he said but glanced at Rose, wondering if perhaps Al was right.

Rose was facing forward, still listening to Professor Flitwick prattle on about the theoretical part of their lesson. They would be learning how to put legs on teacups.

"Does he realise that everyone's already read this chapter?" Scorp asked, annoyed.

"From the blank looks of the Gryffindors, no offence Alice, I don't think they did."

"Well that's their loss then. No offence Alice. Shouldn't we just start?"

"You know, I'm still offended," Alice said, rolling her eyes. Al smirked, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

"Sorry," Scorp and Rose said together. Only Rose's voice, however, carried any sincerity.

"The point is, I don't think we can learn how to do it if he keeps on about the dynamics behind it," Scorp said, shaking his head.

"Maybe he likes the sound of his own voice," Rose suggested, tilting her head at Flitwick.

He did enjoy speaking. Rose knew that he loved discussing the theory of Charms far more than the practice of it.

"I don't understand how. He's brilliant, but his voice is the most annoying thing-"

"What about Binn's voice?" Rose asked with a small smirk.

"-other than Binn's voice, that I've ever heard," Scorp finished.

"Now please, be careful with your cups. If they do grow legs, don't let them run off," Flitwick squeaked.

They all nodded and with a quick tap of their wands, Al, Scorp and Rose's cups sprouted four, perfect legs.

"Well that was overrated," Scorp said, stopping his from running off the table.

He watched, curious, as Alice's teacup sprouted two normal legs and two rather spindly ones. It tottered, rather unbalanced, towards their perfect cups.

"Oh," Alice murmured, frowning and Al shrugged.

"Try again," he said simply.

She nodded, her brows furrowed as she tapped her cup again. This only seemed to thin out the two normal legs, however. She bit her lip, trying again.

By this time, Rose had rescued her cup from running off the table. She glanced around, noticing that not many students had gotten it right.

"You'd think-" she began, but when she turned, it was to see that Scorp and Al had transformed the legs of their cups.

Scorp's cup now had three perfect legs and one stub while Al's had five and couldn't quite seem to navigate with them. Scorp's cup made its way over to Al's cup and started kicking it with the stub, rather violently.

Rose couldn't help the sudden bubble of laughter at the ridiculous sight.

"Miss Weasley?" Professor Flitwick asked, giving her a rather stern look.

"I'm sorry, Professor. I accidentally casted a Cheering Charm."

The lie flowed out of her mouth, smoothly.

"That's fine then," he said, but still gave her a disapproving look.

In retaliation, with one swift wave of her wand, Scorp and Al's teacups shattered.

"Aw..." Scorp and Al said, simultaneously.

The trio were making their way from the library, discussing the difficulties they were having with their latest Arithmancy assignment when they saw a crowd gathered in the Entrance Hall, laughing and staring upwards.

Confused, they glanced up as well.

Rose saw Raftan and Breslin Yaxley stuck to the ceiling. Her lips twitched as she realised they only wore their underwear.

"What the-" Scorp began but seemed unable to finish. "Who did this?" he asked, glancing around.

Everyone was too busy laughing, however, and ignored him. He sighed.

"I'll go find Headmistress McGonagall," he said, leaving. Al agreed and went with him.

Rose however, waited until he left before she started laughing. Looking around, her eyes snagged on Lily, who was holding onto the wall as she howled with laughter. When their eyes made contact, Lily grinned at her.

No one had any illusions as to who the culprits had been. The magic was clearly one of James and Fred's pranks. They were often doing rather foolish things, but never before had their mischievous tendencies ever been aimed at a student. So, since the Yaxley brothers had not seen their assailants and there was no real proof that pointed to their guilt, they were left unpunished.

"Who told you?" Rose asked, linking her arm with James while Lily did the same with Fred.

"We found out using our own means, Rosie love," James said, grinning and hugging her close.

"Were you proud?" Fred asked, smirking.

"Proudest I've ever been to be related to you two dunderheads, I can tell you that," Lily said, laughing.

"If they bother you again, I want you both to come to us, do you understand?" James asked, serious.

"We're fine on our own, James," Rose sighed.

"I'd actually appreciate the help if you're offering it," Lily said and both James and Fred grinned at her, approvingly.

"Why can't you be like Lily, Rose? She's such a good girl," Fred said, hugging her close.

Preening under the attention, Lily winked her way.

"I deal with my own problems," she said, "But thank you for today."

"You're welcome, cousin of mine," James said, wrapping her in a hug.

"Anytime," Fred said. "Next, I was thinking we hex their bollocks off.

"I can't figure out their motivation," Scorp was saying later in the common room.

"You don't have to. There's no motivation. They're just delinquents," Rose said for what she felt was the millionth time.

"Really, I'm telling you, my brother doesn't need a reason to humiliate someone," Al said, having been informed about their rationale earlier that day.

He had been in swift agreement of the punishment and wanted to be included in the next prank that would include the Yaxley brothers. While the three boys didn't have the exact details of what was said to their cousins, they had the gist of it. Al had also agreed that it might not be wise to let Scorp in on his cousin's little past time of taunting Rose and Lily. They were after all, his family.

"No, that's not it. They've never purposefully gone after anyone before-"

"Have you met me?" Al asked, exasperated.

He had been the victim of a large portion of James and Fred's pranks over the years.

"You're his brother, though," Scorp said. "It's expected for you to be the centre of their little jokes."

"They weren't little jokes. They were-"

"Yes, yes. We've heard the rant," Scorp said, making Al's eyes narrow. "What I want to know is why they would single out Raftan and Breslin?"

"It's not as though your cousins are model citizens, Scorp," Al said.

"Yes, but they've never aimed any of it towards James or Fred."

"Just forget it, will you?" Rose asked, pleadingly. "We have to finish this essay."

"Fine," Scorp said, his brows furrowed.

"So you can tell James and Fred what Raftan said to you, but you can't tell me?" Scorp asked, furious, as he cornered Rose while she looked for a book to help them with their essay.

Her eyes widened in shock.

"I've never told-"

"Are you going to lie again, Rose?" Scorp asked and Rose felt herself getting angry.

"I didn't lie to you! I don't intend to, either! I've never told James or Fred anything about Raftan."

"So he was just a random pick, then?" Scorp asked, his eyes flashing.

"Maybe he was," Rose said, folding her arms against her chest.

"I'm fed up of these little secrets of yours Rose," Scorp said, leaning closer to her.

"And I'm a bit fed up of you at the moment," she said, pushing past him.

She didn't expect him to pull her back towards him and when her back slammed against his front, she froze, eerily reminded of his cousin.

"Why won't you just tell me?" he whispered in her ear and in that moment, she was in another hallway, with someone else, far more frightened than she had ever been.

"Rose?" he asked, angrily, spinning her around. His eyes widened at her expression. "Rose?" he asked again, concerned.

"N-nothing," she said, stumbling away from him. She turned and hurried back to the table where Al sat, wanting to cry.

The look in Rose's eyes when he had turned her to look at him had been pure fear. The most primal emotion he had ever seen in her eyes. She had been terrified.

He swallowed, feeling like a monster.

"I need to go get my Transfiguration textbook," Al said, slightly annoyed that he had forgotten it, running off after rummaging through his bag.

Scorp saw his opportunity and took it. He turned to Rose, whose gaze was rooted on the page in front of her.

"I'm sorry, Rosie," he said, "I didn't mean to scare you-"

"You didn't," she said, looking up with a smile.

"I did," he said, apologetically. "I saw your face and-"

"I know what you think, but I'm telling you, it wasn't you," she said, shaking her head, her expression a bit too weary for his tastes.

"If I did something-"

"I'd call you on it. You know that," she said, tiredly.

"Then why were you-"

"I have a secret," she said, interrupting him. He nodded, waiting for her to continue. "I'm not going to tell it to you," she said and when he opened his mouth, frowning, she said, "Ever."

His mouth snapped shut and his eyes were confused and slightly hurt.

"I need you to understand that and not ask me about it. As my best mate, I'm begging you."

She gave him an imploring look and after a few minutes he sighed, surrendering.

"Fine. I won't ask," he said.

"Thank you," Rose said, smiling and reaching over to squeeze his hand in gratitude.

Scorp scowled down at his textbook, knowing that for the first time, Rose was purposefully keeping something from him. Everyone had secrets, of course, but it had become an unspoken rule that as long as one of the three of them asked the other a question, it was answered, fully and unequivocally.

Now, there was a secret between them. Scorp looked up to watch Rose nibble on her thumbnail as she studied and he couldn't help but wonder if it would pull them apart.

Thanks so much for reading! Please review with any questions, comments or feedback. Next update is tomorrow morning. :)