Hi guys :). Here's the next part. Thanks for the reviews. Stay cool, everyone. Read, review and enjoy.

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May We Look Ever Forward

Part Two, Chapter Four

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"Hello Albus," Puffed Slughorn, "How's your dad?"

"The same as ever, Professor." Replied Al with a polite smile fixed in place,

"And your mum? I liked your mum a lot, lovely girl! Lots of fire! A lot like your sister!"

Rose, Scorp and Grace were taking there places, sniggering loudly. Al bit back a grin, "Yeah, she's good, thanks. I'll send them your regards shall I?"

"Good boy," Said Slughorn fondly, "I'd like that."

"Suck up," Grace muttered out of the corner of her mouth as he sat down next to her

He grinned at her, "Shut up," he muttered back.

Not fighting with Grace made Al so ridiculously happy that even Slughorn's constant comments about his paternal grandparents didn't bother him as much as they usually would have.

"An old hand at potions, just like your father, and your grandmother!" He proclaimed, looking over Al's veritaserum.

"And not a bad effort by Miss Bellevue either I see. Not quite Al's standards though!" He said, winking at him and walking off. Grace's mouth flew open to, as if to tell Slughorn exactly where he could shove his wand, but then it seemed she thought better of it, and resigned to muttering curse words under her breath. Al covered his mouth to muffle his laughter. He met Scorpius' eye, and Scorp snorted.

"I hate that walrus man!" Grace proclaimed, as they walked to lunch, "Blatant favouritism!"

"Agreed," Said Rose coolly, "Clearly the Potter name counts for more than skill with him,"

Al refused to say a thing, but Scorpius laughed, moving between them, and throwing his arms around their shoulders "Ah, get over it girls. Rose, you can't be top of everything, and Grace, Al's the best at the potions, so don't worry about it. You're much better at… ahh… Divination?"

"I don't even take Divination, you twat!"

"Exactly," He said, and she whacked him with her book bag.

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Grace and Rose sat together facing the boys, and they four friends chatted animatedly through lunch.

"So, Grace. Dennis Longbottom, huh?"

Al kicked Scorp under the table, causing him to hiss in pain

"Yeeep."

"Ah, a little snogging session in Madame Paddifoots then, hey?"

Rose and Al both kicked Scorp under the table, causing him to yelp, and Grace to stare at him, before grinning

"You're an insufferable prat, Malfoy," She said, though clearly amused

"I don't think he's much of a good kisser though Gracie. Everyone's always thought he was gay,"

"Well, I guess I'll just have to find out for myself, won't I?" She retorted

Al's stomach turned over in panic. Scorp snorted, "Give me the goss, wont you?"

"Sorry, I don't kiss and tell!"

"Scorpius, please, just, just shut up, would you?" Said Rose, her face in her hands, completely exasperated.

Grace shrugged, "Don't worry about him Rose. He's just jealous."

"Jealous?!" Said Scorp

Grace nodded, "Yep. You're jealous. When's the last time you had a date, Scorp? End of 5th year, was it?"

Scorp sniggered, "That doesn't mean a thing, let me assure you. I've been saving myself for someone."

Rose, Al and Grace exchanged amused looks. Grace smiled and said, "Well, tell us about this mystery lady then?"

Scorp smirked and said, "Well, she doesn't know it yet, but she's in love with me."

Grace laughed, "Right, and who is she?"

Scorp tapped his nose, "Mum's the word, Gracie."

Rose stared at him, a barely audible shake in her voice, "Do we know her?"

Scorp met her eyes, and then looked down, "Yeah, you do."

Al stared at him, "I didn't know about this!"

Scorp stared at him, "Why would you?? I didn't know anything about your little crush up until this morning."

I am going to kill Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy as soon as I possibly can. Maybe I can put him in a trunk and ship him off to Africa, Al thought bitterly.

"What crush?" Asked Grace, "How is it that I don't know about this?!"

Scorp laughed, "You don't get included when we 'boy talk',"

Rose and Grace rolled their eyes. "Who's the girl, Al?" Asked Rose, "Go on, share with your favourite cousin."

"Who says you're my favourite cousin?" He said, unable to resist riling her up, "What if it's Hugo?"

Rose looked affronted, "You're my favourite cousin!"

Al laughed, "Rosie, I'm joking. You are my favourite cousin."

"Then who's the girl!?"

"Yes, who is it?!" Asked Grace, moving her hands to her lap, "Share!"

Al shrugged, "I'm not really sure, because Scorp is making this up. You'll have to ask him."

Scorp smirked and said, "It's Genevieve Bug, of course. What a babe," he added, almost as an afterthought, "I can't blame him,"

"I do not like Genevieve Bug!" Said Al, heatedly, "Yeah, sure, she's a knock-out, but she's just… she's…" He paused, as if not sure what to say to make it extremely clear that he had absolutely no interest in Genevieve Bug, "Have you ever actually spoken to Gen? She has the personality of a garden gnome. A vicious garden gnome!" They all roared with laughter, especially Grace who looked relieved.

"Yeah, but you can't argue with that body," Said Scorp

Grace was still smiling, calmer now somehow, "Somehow I think you can."

Rose sighed, "Her hair is so nice. I wish mine would sit like that."

"You have gorgeous hair! It's just like Mrs Potters and Lily's! It's all long and red and sleek." Scorp said,

Rose blushed heavily, "Oh. Thankyou Scorpius."

Grace roared with laughter, "Hark the pot calling the kettle black! You were the one teasing Denny, suggestion he was gay and now listen to you! You should take over the fashion and beauty section of the Witch Weekly! You girl!"

Scorp looked affronted, "I'm not being girly! I'm appreciating the finery that is the female form! Your hair is quite nice too Grace, but it doesn't float my boat. I'm more partial to red-heads myself," He winked at Rose and she took a rather large gulp of pumpkin juice

Al shook his head, "You're shameless Scorp."

"You know it, mate. You know it."

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Rose and Grace were seated together in Transfiguration, and Grace desperately wanted to discuss the lunchtime conversation they had had with the boys. But it was literally impossible in McGonagall's classroom. Grace liked McGonagall. She was an excellent headmistress, and Grace really appreciated that she had decided to take the 6th and 7th year Transfiguration students even though she didn't teach anymore. Grace took out a fresh piece of parchment, and wrote on it,

Well? What do you reckon? Do you think Al likes someone, or do you reckon Scorpius was just being Scorpius?

She tapped the parchment discreetly with her wand, and appeared in front of Rose. Rose looked startled, read the paper, glanced at McGonagall, and then began to write. Grace pretended to keep taking notes until the paper arrived back to her.

I'm not sure, to be honest. The look on Al's face when he mentioned it really gave him away. You know what he's like; he's the worst liar in the whole world.

Yeah, that's what I thought too. Who do you think she is? Do you reckon she's in our year?

Oh, Grace. I have no idea. Look, I know you think it'll ruin everything, but maybe you should just talk to him?

Are you kidding? Rose, he likes someone! If I spill my guts and then he tells me he's interested in someone else, I'll die. And then maybe come back as a ghost and haunt whoever the girl is for the rest of my life.

Well, I maintain my argument. TALK TO HIM, YOU FOOL. What if you're the girl he likes?

Oh, please. Only in my frequent and vivid dreams.

Too much info, Grace.

Oh, shut up.

What do you reckon about this mystery girl of Scorp's, hey?

I'm sniggering, if you're not looking at me/can't hear it. I don't reckon she exists, I think he was just talking rubbish. He's certainly partial to your red-hair, at any rate.


Oh I knew you were going to make a big deal out of that. He was just mucking around.

Sure, sure. Maybe he likes you and your lovely, sleek Weasley hair.

Sleek?! Please. You've seen in when it gets all bushy, it's awful. It's only sleek if I keep it under tight restraints. Or maybe it's Lily that he's interested in.

Lily?! Oh, surely not! She's Al's little sister. James would probably kill him. I don't even know how Al would react. Even Hugo would be keen to tell him to keep away from Lily. It would be a disaster!

Well, at any rate, I hope it's not Lily.

Me too. It would cause so many problems.

The practical part of class began after that. They were learning to Transfigure inanimate objects into animals, a trick McGonagall had shown them once in relief lesson she had taken them for in their 4th year. Rose was now turning desk lamps into parrots, a fete which amazed Grace thoroughly, as she was barely managing turning a water bottle into a mouse. It comforted her that the rest of the class were having difficulties too though. After Transfiguration, the Gryffindors went down to the greenhouse for Herbology. Professor Longbottom gave Grace a particularly kind smile before he greeted Rose, Al and Scorp warmly. Her stomach gave a guilty flip-flop. That was a most unusual occurrence, as her presence in herbology had gone largely unnoticed for seven years. Was he hoping to make a daughter-in-law out of her or something now?! Herbology passed quite quickly, and they were back in the castle for dinner before Grace even knew it. Dinner though, was an uncomfortable experience, and as she lay in bed that night, she longed to block the awkward memory from her mind.

"Hey, Grace" Said Denny, "Do you mind if I sit here?" He indicated to the empty spot next to her.

She smiled to hide her discomfort, unsure as to how Al was going to react "Sure. How're you?"

He smiled in return, "I'm alright. Tired, though. I've just had the longest day."

She nodded, "I think it's actually just one of those weeks, actually."

"Alright there, Denny!" Said Scorp loudly, grinning at him

Grace gave him a look that could kill, but Denny smiled at Scorp, "Hey, Scorp. How's it going?"

"Not bad, hey."

"Hello Al," He said, his voiced straining to be polite "How are you?"

"Fine, thankyou." Al's voice was also strained

Grace couldn't understand this, and looked from one to the other. So, to avoiding making a comment, she piled her plate with dinner, and an awkward silence stretched between them.

"So," Said Scorp, thoroughly unperturbed, "Have a busy day then, did you?"

Denny shrugged, trying to look as if he weren't extremely pleased him himself, "Well, I had a small tussle with some Slytherins before,"

"What happened?!" Asked Grace, "Are you okay?!"

He shrugged again "It wasn't much. They broke my wand wrist, but Pomfrey fixed me right up."

Grace and Rose both gasped, "That's terrible!" Grace said, "You shouldn't have tried to take them on by yourself!"

Rose nodded, "You should've come and got me!"

Smirking, he said "Well, three on one's not bad odds for a Gryffindor!"

Grace chuckled, "I guess not. But don't try it again, okay?"

Scorp nudged Al with his foot under the table, and Scorp made a gagging motion with his knife, and Al snorted into his pumpkin juice.

"Why'd they attack you?" Al asked, wiping the pumpkin juice off his mouth to hide his smile

"No reason, really. They were on the 7th floor, huddled in a corner, and I was just walking by and heard them muttering. I told them to go to class, and that Goyle fellow got me with a jelly-leg jinx, and after that it was on. I might've gone to the hospital wing, but they followed right after me."

"Did you find out what they were up to?" Asked Scorp

He shook his head, "McGonagall and my dad are drilling them now, I think."

"Those Slytherins are up to something, mark my words" Said Scorp, waving his fork at Denny, "I'll bet they wrote Magic is Might,"

Denny nodded, "The teachers think the same thing,"

"They're not going to solve anything if they can't prove it though," Said Grace, spearing a potato, "And even if they can prove that those three wrote it, they'll just get detention or something equally trivial, and whoever else they're involved with will just keep going with it,"

Al groaned, "You're a plethora of joy and a barer of good news, Grace."

Grace smiled, "I try."

Dennis took her hand, "She's well cheerful, isn't she?"

There was an awkward, prolonged silence as they all stared at Denny's hand around Grace's. Grace looked up to meet Al's eyes, but he was staring determinedly at his dinner plate.

Dennis's eyes flickered to Al's face, then he blushed crimson and let go of Grace's hand. Grace put down her fork, and said quietly, "Well, I have a potions essay due. So I should go finish it. Night, guys."

She listened to the sound of her dorm mate's breathing, thinking about everything. It had been awkward; she handled it wrong. She should've laughed it all off, then shovelled down her dinner and waited for Scorp to say something stupid and take the spotlight off her. But she didn't. She had stared at Al like a stunned mullet and then had dashed off to hide in the back of the library. She saw Rose looking for her at one point, and proceeded to duck behind a stack of books until her friend went away. She didn't want to have to talk about it. Tomorrow, she was hoping to get up, and find the whole thing had been forgotten.