The next time that Scorpius saw Rose was at breakfast the following morning.

It was the morning of the final Quidditch match, Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw, and Rose was tearing apart a piece of toast.

"Where were you last night?" Scorpius asked as he sat down beside her and took a bite of his own eggs.

Hugo, who had taken Mason King's place as beater, and who seemed, unlike his sister, to have no problem eating, said through a mouthful of sausage, "Weren't you in the common room all night?"

"No," Rose snapped, "Not that it's any of your business, either one of you. I went to the library later, I needed to look in another book for my transfiguration essay."

Hugo rolled his eyes at her and stuffed another whole sausage in his mouth.

"That's weird," Scorpius said, "because Lily said that you weren't there."

"How would Lily know?"

"Because she was there."

"No, she wasn't. At least, not while I was there."

"Are you sure you were in the library?"

Rose shot him a glare. "Do you want to ask Madam Hutcherson? Because I'm sure she remembers that I was there."

"Sorry," he muttered, "Just checking."

"Why do you even care?

"Excuse me for worrying when you disappeared," Scorpius said defensively, "I can assure you that it won't happen again."

"What, you were worried that I got lost somewhere between 212 Ways to Tame a Dragon and 214 Unusual Uses for Wolfbane?"

"No," Scorpius returned sarcastically, "I was worried that the old copy of The Monster Book of Monsters took your leg off and you bled out."

"Seriously, Scorpius," Rose pressed, ignoring Albus, who had just sat down blearily, "Why does it even matter?"

"Oh, are you talking about last night?" Albus asked, yawning and absent-mindedly salting his pumpkin juice.

"Yes," Rose hissed, "And more importantly, why Scorpius is acting like a jealous boyfriend."

"I'm not jealous!" Scorpius shouted, "I was just curious! Albus was worried, too!"

Albus nodded in agreement and took a swig of his pumpkin juice, which he immediately spit back out. "I hate mornings," he groaned.

"Hey," Lily said approaching the table, "Good luck on the game today, all of you! You'll crush Ravenclaw!"

"Lily," Scorpius said, "Was Rose in the library last night?"

"How should I know?" Lily said, "I was in the kitchens."

Albus exchanged a glance with Scorpius. "Last night you said you were in the library."

Lily blushed a deep red. "Did I?" She said lightly, "How odd, I wasn't. Oh, look at the time; I should go get a good seat."

She hurried off, and Albus shook his head. "I worry about that one," he said sadly.

"Seriously," Rose snapped, finally pushing her plate away, "Let's just drop it. I was in the library. End of story."

"Fine," Scorpius retorted, standing. "End of story. Did you see Noah there?"

"If I saw Noah Smede anywhere," Rose said, stalking out of the dining hall, Scorpius close on her heels, "I would run in the opposite direction."

"Sure you would," Scorpius said, irritably.

Rose spun on her heel and stood nose to chin with him.

"Are you accusing me of lying?" She hissed.

"Only of stretching the truth," he said back.

"Why would you even think—"

"Noah looked really happy last night. Like his biggest wish had just been granted. And we all know that his biggest wish is you. It's just really coincidental that you were gone at the same time, especially since you skipped patrols."

"Yeah, that is a coincidence. But that's all that it is—a coincidence."

Scorpius sighed. "You know what?" He said taking a step back from her, "If that's your story, fine. I believe you."

"You obviously don't!" She shrieked.

"Yes, I do. And I have a game to get ready for, I'll see you later."

He didn't talk to her as they sat in their tent, waiting for the game to start. Or maybe she didn't talk to him. Regardless, by the time that Amelia gave her final speech as captain, they weren't even looking at each other.

"This really is it," Amelia said, "The last time that we're all going to play together. Avery, James and I are all graduating, and I know that whoever the new captain is, they'll do a great job. But this is the final game for us, and I really want us to go out there, play as a team, and show Ravenclaw how Quidditch is really played!"

"Rose," Scorpius said as they waited for the whistle, "we can talk about this after the game. But for right now, let's just…"

"Truce," she said, offering her hand. Scorpius shook it as the whistle blew.

And the game began.

Amelia was sobbing as Madam Tanner handed her the Quidditch Trophy for the third time in her term as captain.

"I just can't believe it!" She sobbed into Scorpius' ear as she made the rounds through her teammates, "I'm just so proud of us!"

Lily Potter bolted out onto the pitch, hugging Rose and Hugo, James and Albus, and even Scorpius before halting in front of Avery.

"Good job," She said politely.

"You know what, Lils?" He said in return, "I'm really tired of keeping this a secret."

"Really?" She whispered.

"Yeah, really," he said in return.

Albus lunged at the pair as Avery bent his head to kiss Lily, and if Rose and Scorpius hadn't reached out to hold him back, he would have knocked them both to the ground.

"I'll tear his arms from his body!" They heard, and Scorpius looked over to see a similar scuffle breaking out: Amelia and Hugo physically restraining James from attacking his best friend.

"Hey," Scorpius said sharply to Albus, who was still struggling against the two pairs of arms that held him back, "Stop it, she has a right to her own choices."

"You enormous hypocrite," Rose said from Albus' other side. Her red hair glinted in the sun, and Scorpius' heart suddenly sank in his chest. Red hair. A boy's back, broad and muscular.

"This isn't about us, Rose," Scorpius said back, for now he knew that it wasn't about either of them, it was about a different couple, and he now he knew exactly who.

"Four bloody years older!" Albus growled, "Sick and disgusting… can't believe…"

"Hey," Scorpius said again, remembering what Lily herself had said to him years earlier about her love for Avery, "Age is only a number. In twenty years, you won't think anything of it."

"But this is bloody now!" Albus howled, "Not twenty years later!" Still, he struggled a little less.

"Look, mate," Avery said to James, "I'm really sorry, but we tried not to. It just happened this way. And then we didn't tell your right off, because—"

"Because we didn't want you to lose your marbles," Lily finished.

"How long have you been going behind my back?" James demanded.

"A month," Lily said, "At most. I'm sorry it was a secret. But it had to be!"

"Alright," another male voice interjected, and Scorpius saw that both Albus' and Rose's parents had come onto the field. Harry and Ginny were staring at their daughter with twin expressions of shock, and Hermione had approached Albus. "Break it up," Ron continued, "We don't want any bloodshed."

"Come on, Albus," Hermione said, "Let's go." She pried him from Scorpius and Rose and walked him away from the group.

"Do you see this?" James bellowed, pointing at his sister, "Of course I want bloodshed!"

"Let me tell you a little something about your best mate dating your sister," Ron said, firmly gripping his nephew's arm and steering him away from Avery and Lily. "It's bloody terrible, at first. But then you come to realize that she'll be snogging somebody, and you'd rather have it be somebody you know and trust than some random bloke off of the street…" Their voices faded as they walked further away, and then there was only a pregnant silence.

"Lily, dear," Ginny said at last, "Why don't we have a chat?"

Lily shot a guilty look at Avery, and then sighed, "Coming, mum."

Amelia spotted Mason King beaming at her from the side of the pitch, squealed, oblivious to the otherwise somber attitude on the pitch, and dashed towards him.

"Maybe we should go," Scorpius said quickly, grabbing Rose's arm and looking pointedly at Hugo, and the three of them hurried away, leaving Harry and Avery alone on the pitch.

"We need to talk," Rose growled when they had moved away.

"Um… Bye!" Hugo said quickly.

"Yeah, we do," Scorpius agreed. "Look, I'm sorry. I know now that it wasn't you that I saw last night. It was obviously Lily, I just… didn't know it at the time. I'm really sorry."

"Wait," Rose said, "Saw?"

Scorpius blushed. "Yeah, I saw a couple last night on patrol, snogging in a broom cupboard."

"And you thought that it was me and NOAH SMEDE?"

"Hey," Scorpius said defensively, "The only thing that I saw was the boy's back and the girl's hair, and you and Lily have almost the same color hair."

"Why did you automatically assume that I would go around snogging random boys in broom cupboards?"

"I didn't automatically assume! I only did when I got back and you weren't there, and then Lily said that you weren't in the library!"

"Well, that was obviously a lie."

"And I know that now!"

They were shouting again, standing close together, breathing hard.

"Look," Scorpius said quietly. "I made a mistake. A massive mistake. I'm sorry I jumped to conclusions, I'm sorry that I accused you of... Well, you know. And I'm sorry that we're still fighting. But can't you just accept my apology?"

Rose looked back at the pitch, and Scorpius followed her gaze to where Lily and Avery were now standing close together again, holding hands, as Ginny and Harry looked on, still uneasy. He looked at Amelia and Mason, quietly talking on the sidelines. He saw Kate, who had obviously taken over where Ron had left off, for she was rubbing James' shoulders soothingly and speaking consolingly to him, and he saw Albus and Elsie, looking much the same. He even saw Rose's parents, walking slowly back to the Potters, arm in arm.

And then he saw Rose, looking up at him. "Yes," she said, "I can."

"So," He asked her, as they walked back up to the castle, "Why do you think Noah was so happy last night?"

She laughed, and looked him right in the eyes. "I really haven't the foggiest," She said.

And this time, Scorpius believed her.