"You're mother thanked me for the notes, said she'd look into them." Scorpius approached her in the halls the next day and for once, since everything began, she was happy to see him without foreshadowing's of pain or unresolved anguish.

"What else?" She studied him, "There's something else I can tell." It was there, something in his face that gave it away.

If she thought Scorpius could blush that's what she'd consider he was doing now, "She thanked me for continuing to look out for you." God she hoped he didn't fancy her mother. The idol worship was one thing, but he was a teenage boy there was the posibility. Ew.

"Right," she elongated purposefully. "What you got?"

"I've got an essay for Magic History to do up in the library, you?" He tucked a hand into his pants, blush subsiding quickly.

"I've got a free too! Why haven't I seen you held up in the library like everyone else?" She exclaimed.

"Usually I just sit in my dorm and work on stuff, I'd be there now but there's a book I need for this," He gestured towards his books and parchment probably hidden somewhere within.

"Um," she began startlingly nervous. "We could study together. I don't think we have anything else together besides Potions, but I could try help you with anything else. It couldn't be that bad. You could bounce ideas off me."

"Sure," he nodded.

They walked alongside each other, not too fast but not too slow Rose just feeling awkward. Wasn't she happy to see him earlier? What happened?

They reached the same table they'd sat in the day before and sat in the same seats, unloading themselves of all their books and writing things. She smiled at him, he'd set up his things so methodically just like she did.

They jumped right into it without saying much else, Scorpius found the book he needed and leafed through it quickly scribbling notes as he did.

"Where'd you get your quills?" He asked after a while.

"Sorry what?" Rose peered over from her Charms assignment (yet another one!).

"Your quills, I like them, their neatly trimmed, short and seem to write fairly well. Where'd you get them? I'd like to get some blue ones," He explained.

"Oh, my mother gets me them for Christmas every year, sort of supporting my Slytherin life style buying emerald green quills and such. My dad bought me a Syltherin scarf once, said it was only because he had to get me into Quidditch somehow." She laughed, fixing the green and grey tie at her throat. "I don't know where she gets them sorry."

"Oh well. My loss, guess I'm stuck with these natural disasters," he waved his ostrich feather quill in the air dramatically causing her to snicker.

"Right," she sighed.

"Can I ask you something?" he asked her, his eyes melting into hers. Her own pulse rising.

"Sure," she smiled weakly. Why was she smiling so much lately?

"Did they send another one last night? Another note?" He looked concerned as he fiddled with his quill nib, staining his fingers in black ink.

"Yes," she whispered faintly pulling it forth from beneath her robes. He took it from her, leaning over and filling the gap.

WE HAVE WAYS TO FIND OUT THE TRUTH. TELL US WHAT HAPPENED LAST YEAR!

"We?" He looked at it puzzled, "Do you think they're referring to themselves as an entity here, or are there actually more people behind the notes than we think?"

"I don't know," Rose cried hanging her head. "It would make more sense if it were a few people. I think it's convenient that whoever is doing this can break through the magic that keeps people out of the seventh year girls room."

He reached a hand out to grip her wrist, "Your mother will figure this out. Hell she nearly had the whole thing last year figured out remember? It wasn't exactly her fault that we got kidnapped just as she broke through the case."

Ah yes. The moment last year her mother had gone speeding off, Rose had thought it was the reaction to them sleeping in the same bed. Wow, how strange that was to recollect.

"I figured it out just before you two were taken. The reason you could dream walk, wasn't their magic at all. It was the bond you two had created out of plight of all this. That's why Scorpius could activate it, he was saving you two from the dreams, but their magic was trying to work against you. That's why it would end with their control. The final blow with the sword. The night you spent together, your magic unified on a touch to touch basis, strengthening it past their control. Once I figured that out, the magic they were using to bring forth the nightmares was easy to identify. If you hadn't already escaped from them we would have eventually tracked their magic. There have been reports going round about the Cult of Rebirth, using this type of magic. It's mostly been hushed up and a lot of it has been speculation until now. After Voldemort's' demise, they wanted to bring forth a rebirth of magic by cutting out all the 'evil' still within it…"

"Hi Scorpius!" A girl called from across the library and he removed his hand to turn and wave back at her.

"Hey Mel," he smiled.

"Girlfriend ey?" Rose glowered as she watched the girl walk away.

"Pfft, nah. She's just this girl in Herbology." He went back to scribbling his notes.

She eyed him disbelievingly, "Sure."

"Nah, she reckons she needs help in Herbology for her final grade. She's cool. She's one of those rare breeds of people who hears my name and doesn't go running for the hills. That's all." He hunched over as he spoke as if he was telling her a secret or something. She knew being a Malfoy bothered him and silently thanked Merlin that he wasn't put into Slytherin after all; that might have destroyed him.

What would it have been like if they were put into Slytherin together? Would they have been friends from the word go? Would he look as alone as he always did now? Ugh, Daphne probably would have tried to climb him like a tree already if he had.

"Cool," she said finally before returning to her assignment: Imbuing charms of lesser protection.

"Do you want to go out with me this weekend, Hogsmeade? Like old times!" Jonny had caught her in the halls again. Did he have a tracking spell on her or something?

"I'm not sure if I'm going out to Hogsmeade this weekend." She deflected.

"Aw! But its first weekend trip back!" He cried, trying to sound as persuasive as possible.

"I have a lot of homework to get through, I haven't been making a jump of it as much as I'd liked." She explained, trying to walk down the hallway from him.

He followed her, much to her chagrin. "But you're Rose Weasley! There's no way you are falling behind, trust me, it's probably all in your head! Let loose, you probably won't get a chance to later!"

Weasley.

"I'll think about it!" She responded, trying to tame her mind from shouting all the other things she'd rather say.

"What are we thinking about?" Scorpius came out from around the corner.

"Trying to get Rose out with me with weekend, study bug won't relent." Jonny explained, she wished he didn't.

"Ah! Of course," Scorpius sighed visibly biting his tongue.

Mel, or Melinda Webb as Rose had discovered (Thanks to her two wonderful Slytherin spies, Alex and Daphne) appeared from behind his sleeve.

"Hogmeade! Sounds fun, we should all go!" Melinda chirped. "The four of us!"

"Ugh, maybe." Scorpius wavered, scratching his head.

"No!" Rose heard herself say. "That sounds like a great idea!"

"Really?!" Jonny brightened. Fuck.

"Yeah. Let's do it. The four of us!" Rose cried out in feigned enthusiasm, feeling her own bitterness upon her tongue.

"Ugh, okay. I guess it's on." Scorpius agreed and Melinda brightened, clutching his arm. "We've got Herbology. Guess I'll see you two this Saturday then?"

"In front on the steps by ten, let's say?" Melinda decided and Jonny agreed.

Great…