Aaliyah and Rose were still locked in a passionate embrace when a seemingly stable bookshelf started to silently rotate and Astoria Malfoy walked into the room holding a small ivy green book.

Astoria gasped in shock, quickly started uttering an apology, "Oh! I'm sorry I just came to return a book to the Eastern Library."

Rose immediately broke apart from Aaliyah and turned an incandescent shade of red. She tried to say something but Astoria had turned right back around and headed through the rotating bookshelf once more.

Both Aaliyah and Rose stood in shocked silence until the bookshelf finally closed itself again, then a string of curse words started to escape Rose's mouth.

"Shit, shit, shit! Merlin, this is so so bad, worse than Voldemort's unicorn-sucking fangs," she glared at the door-masquerading-as-a-bookshelf in a panic.

"Okay calm down," Aaliyah said soothingly.

"So someone bumped into us having a little kiss, who cares?"

Rose whipped around, her hands curled into fists, "Calm down! Calm down! That was Sam's fucking mother! Fuck, fuck, fuck, of all the people to fucking walk in on us, this is the worst fucking possible outcome, what the fuck am I going to do?"

Aaliyah knew Rose had a tendency towards foul language, but this was quite another level.

.

Rose knew she had to tell Sam what had happened, he was the only one who could explain everything to Astoria and set the record straight.

All but running out of the room (through the real door, the one with a handle and everything!) they hurried down the hall back towards the ballroom.

Rose pushed open the floor-to-ceiling length doors and had to brace herself as the sound of Hugo's band thrashing multiple instruments with all manner of bizarre spells and enchantments hit her ears.

Aaliyah crinkled her eyes in distaste, thinking that what the band was making, was more like noise than music.

.

They quickly made their way over to Sam, Rose in the lead. When she reached him, she abruptly tugged his sleeve.

Sam, sensing the panic in her touch, immediately looked away from the musical melee and was taken aback by Rose's distressed look.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?"

Unable to even hear herself think over the ruckus, she pulled Sam into the back corner of the ballroom - leaving Aaliyah awkwardly standing near the group, unable to take her eyes off them but unwilling to try and join the conversation. She could tell that Rose was stressed and that her presence would probably only make matters worse.

.

In the back of the room, Rose cast a sound charm to quieten the music and keep their conversation private, a vague shimmering silver bubble grew from the tip of her wand to encompass them and vanished once it had reached the ground.

Taking a deep breath, she tried to explain, "Sam, something awful just happened. Fuck!"

She struggled to find the right words, "Your mother just stumbled on me in the Eastern fucking Library, you know the small one just near the ballroom? Anyway, she… she saw me comforting Aaliyah, we were really close and I'm so worried that she's going to think- she's going to think-"

Sam finished the sentence, "That she caught you cheating on me."

He let out a sigh and lifted his hand to rub his temples; he could feel a headache coming on.

While he hadn't really attempted to hide his situation with Rose, he also hadn't been completely transparent either. It was his business and no one else's, and until it came up naturally he wasn't going to bother explaining… well… anything.

.

Rose was trying to keep herself together but she could feel herself tearing up from the stress, anxiety and shock of Astoria's discovery. Sam quickly pulled her into a warm hug, "Rose I'm going to talk to her and explain everything, don't worry."

She wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her eyes into his warm grey cardigan, his chest was ideal for crying on really.

"A month ago, you thought I was going to die… Don't worry about all these little things, they're so much smaller than what we've been through."

Lifting her head up, Rose tearfully exclaimed, "But that's why I don't want to mess things up Sam, we're just getting things sorted out and I feel like I'm already messing up again-"

"You're not." Sam said firmly, in a way that warranted no more discussion. "I will explain things to her and she is going to completely understand what she saw."

She nodded into his shoulder, her eyes tightly squeezed shut, breathing a sigh of relief for the strong, supportive arms around her.

.

Aaliyah watched closely as Rose and Sam embraced for a while and Rose's body visibly relaxed.

She looked so relaxed and comforted in his arms.

Aaliyah was torn. While one part of her wished that she could have been the one to comfort Rose, she also felt a breath of relief wash over her.

It was beautiful to see how Sam knew exactly what to do and say to calm Rose down and be there for her, be present, especially when Aaliyah knew that was exactly what Rose needed in that moment.

A smile tinged Aaliyah's lips as she watched them, a warm feeling bubbling across her chest and down towards her fingertips.

Shaking her head, trying to make sense of her strange conflicted feelings, Aaliyah went over to the food and drinks table to grab some butterbeers for all three of them. Butterbeer could help solve most problems.

.

She walked over to join them and quietly greeted them, "Hey guys, how are doing? Is everything, okay?"

She offered them the butterbeers, which were beautifully chilled, condensation dripping down the brown glass bottles.

Sam and Rose disentangled, Rose cautiously optimistic of the smile still tracing its path across Aaliyah's face

.

"Yeah, I think things will be okay. Hopefully. Thanks for the drinks," Rose smiled back taking one of the bottles.

Aaliyah offered the other one to Sam, "I'm really glad you're here Sam, it actually makes me feel a lot better to know you can calm this one down when she's in a panic", she nudged her head towards Rose.

They all laughed and the tension was broken.

Later, Aaliyah would reflect on this new feeling of relief and comfort that Sam brought her. She would be confused by it for a long time to come, but not altogether put off.