Rose and Scorpius both looked around, still not talking to each other. Scorpius studied the room. Everywhere he could see something about Chudley Cannons posted up. Apparently, Ron was an avid fan of the all-year losers' team, according to Scorpius. He glanced at Rose who was looking around as well, but she didn't seem to want to talk to him.

Rose walked over to her father's bed. He was sitting on the bed looking absolutely bored. She looked around and found the many posters of the Chudley Cannons. She didn't fancy Quidditch too much thus she couldn't disapprove his taste of teams. She stole a glimpse at Scorpius to see if he was willing to talk to her, but she seemed too busy looking around the room so she didn't make a sound.

"This is ridiculous, I'm, getting out of here," said Scorpius. Rose quickly grabbed his shirt. Although Scorpius was glad that she did, he didn't show it. "If you want to stay, go ahead. I'm going back home whether you like it or not." He looked into her eyes, practically begging that she pull him back. Much to his dismay, Rose didn't.

Rose nodded understandingly. "Okay, you go ahead. I'm sorry for what I said about your father though." She turned back and looked at Ron. Slowly, she walked away from Scorpius who didn't feel to high and mighty anymore. "See you when we get to Hogwarts then, Scorpius," she said.

Scorpius stopped. "Are you all right alone?" he asked. Rose nodded, but she didn't look at him. Scorpius took a deep breath. "Are you sure you don't need me to stay here with you?" he asked hopefully. Rose nodded again. His heart sank. He didn't want to leave Rose alone at all. Besides, he and Rose had never been into an argument before, not even a little one. "You sure you're okay without me?" he asked again, hoping she'd shake her head this time.

"Just go, Scorpius," said Rose coldly

"Ron? Are you in there?" Arthur popped his head into the room. "Ron, I'm sorry. I know I promised to spend some time with you and go watch the Quidditch game but work's been very busy lately. You have Ginny to keep you company while I'm gone. She's just as lonely as you are when you don't play with her," he reminded Ron, but the boy didn't even budge. "When have you started being as stubborn as Fred and George?" asked Arthur as he placed is hand softly on Ron's head.

Ron didn't answer. He pulled away from his father. He turned and lay flat on his back and looked up at his posters. Arthur sadly stood up from his son's bed. He looked at him one last time before leaving Ron to himself. Ron turned and watched his father leave. His blue eyes faced no trace of happiness in them like he usually had. Ron turned back to his posters and stared ay them.

A knock came to the door. "Ronald?" Ron twitched. Molly came inside. "Ron, I just saw your father come down from the stairs and he looked very disappointed. I'm just as disappointed to see that you can treat your father that way. You know very well that he wanted to take you to the game but there isn't much time because he's got-"

"Work," Ron finished. "I know." He turned his back at his mother. "I know. You don't hear me complaining, do you? I'm all right with it, okay? I just want to stare at the posters right now and imagine I'm watching it," he said grudgingly, evident that he wasn't all right with it.

"Don't give me that tone of voice, Ron," Molly said warningly. Ron nodded halfheartedly. Molly sighed in frustration as she looked at her dejected son. "I know you were hoping that you and your father would go, but we can't afford a day off when work is calling. You know that very well." Ron nodded again. "Ron, what do you want me to say to convince you that your father is really sorry that he couldn't take you to the game?" she asked.

Ron shook his head. "Nothing," he replied. "I'm okay. I'll be down for lunch in a while."

"Ginny misses you," said Molly flatly. "She's been asking if you'd like to play Wizard's Chess all morning. You can go out and fly with her if you want. I'll give you permission this time." Molly knew she couldn't blame her son for behind downhearted. Arthur had promised him over and over for this day and it was broken. Ron shook his head. Molly walked over to him. "I know what you feel, but you can't go on like this until you're ready to give it up. Think of your sister," she said.

"Mmm," said Ron.

Molly shook her head. "If you want to waste your life all day then so be it. I just want to remind you that you won't be here for long. Soon you'll be off to Hogwarts and I am sure that you'll miss staying in this house like you do now." Ron didn't move. Molly left the room and went down stairs without another word to her son.

"Sometimes you act like your father," said Scorpius calmly as he looked at Rose. "You do know as much as he does that you need to talk to someone." Rose looked back at Scorpius. "Come on, Rose. You know I won't go anywhere and leave you hanging." Rose blinked twice while looked unbelievingly at him. "Okay, I'm sorry for overreacting about what you said about that. Yes, he can be a git sometimes to me too and I have to admit that."

Rose finally smiled. "We're even now?" she asked.

"Yeah," replied Scorpius. "We're even."

Ron looked up upon hearing loud footsteps near his room. Ginny entered without hesitation. "I saw Dad," she said panting. "He was looking really upset. I thought maybe you could go tell him that it's all right that he didn't take you to the game and he'll be happy again." She looked at her brother. "Well, aren't you the ungrateful one right now," she said.

"Get off my case," mumbled Ron.

Ginny frowned. "You know I can't do that when the house is this quiet and everybody is looking very sullen. You started this." She walked over to Ron and placed her hands on her hips. "I'm younger than you and I understand Dad. Why can't you? You know Dad wanted to take you too. What would Bill and Charlie say if they were here? You look like a spoiled brat to me," she said firmly.

Ron looked at her. "Get away from my room, will you?" he said angrily and threw a pillow at her. Ginny caught the pillow before it hit her. She stared at her brother. Ron had never thrown anything at her before even if he was upset. "What are you looking at? I just told you to get away, didn't I?" he said as he stood up from his bed.

"How could you be so callous towards Dad?" asked Ginny as she threw the pillow back at Ron. "You know he tries his best to please us all. You deal things worse than Percy." She glared at Ron. She never had to do it before, but she thought Ron had gone overboard with his childishness. "You're going off to Hogwarts in a year and you think it's funny to see everything like this? What would Bill say?" she asked hotly.

"Bill is gone and stop using his name as an excuse." Ron walked over to the doorway. "Didn't I just tell you earlier to get out?" he asked.

Ginny spun and looked at him. "I won't until you apologize to Dad."

"What's going on in here?" Molly appeared by the doorway. She looked at her two angry-faced children. "I will not have this yelling in this house. Ronald, you are not to yell at your sister like that at any cause. She has as much right to be in your room as anyone else in this household." Se turned to Ginny. "Ron is still your older brother and you have to give him some respect."

Ginny threw a dirty look at Ron. "Who'd want to respect a brother who doesn't even do it to his dad," she said in a disgusted tone of voice.

"That's enough, Ginny," scolded Molly.

Ginny huffed and turned and stomped down the stairs. Ron grabbed his pillow from the floor and threw it to his bed. He sat down and looked away from his mother. He knew all too well that she was going to scold him too. Ron looked outside the window and took a deep breath. He counted from one to ten to calm him a down, a trick Charlie had taught him.

"You did not have to yell so much," said Molly coolly. "Ginny is just a little girl and didn't want to see her father sad. I believe you don't either, knowing you." She walked closer to Ron, but not close enough for her to reach out to him. "You're growing up now and it's time you make choices of your own. I don't want to keep telling you what to do. Like Fred and George, at some point I their lives, I have to let them go. It's time for you to grow up too. I don't take it against you for feeling upset, but it's how you handle your emotions that make you a likeable person." Molly looked at her son for a moment before leaving the room and closing the door behind her as she did.

Rose looked at Scorpius. "He's got a hot temper," she muttered. Scorpius nodded having seen Ron lose his temper sometimes. Rose looked at him. "Dad must've really wanted to go to that game seeing how worked up he is when he couldn't I haven't seen Dad so angry about trivial things up until now," she explained.

"He's just a kid," replied Scorpius. "I can understand that he's angry. I get heated up too when Dad promises me to go to matches and says he couldn't. It's a hard feeling getting all worked up for nothing." He looked at Rose. "Haven't you felt the same way when your dad promises you something he never really does?" he asked.

Rose shook her head. "He hasn't broken a promise of taking me somewhere yet."

"Lucky you," said Scorpius.

Ron lay on his bed for a while and stared at the ceiling again. He shifted his eyes from one poster to another. He felt a little guilty now that he has calmed down a bit. Ron closed his eyes and sighed. He just wished for his older brothers to come home soon. When he felt really bad, they were always there to make him smile. Now that they have gone, it was hard to do so, especially with Ginny being upset with him for she was the only one he could talk to.

"He's looking really lonely," said Rose. "Without Uncle Fred and Uncle George, the house does seem a lot quieter." She walked near her father who seemed to be thinking very deeply about something. "Scorpius, what does it feel like to have a busy dad?" She looked up at Scorpius. "My dad never works for more than eight hours a day unless it's really important and he always takes us out on the weekends wherever we want to go."

Scorpius thought for a moment. "It's so stressful sometimes, watching Dad seemingly twenty-four seven. Many times I want him to stop and take me somewhere but I know I can't say anything to him. He'll just bite my head off if I do," he explained.

"But you're filthy rich," countered Rose.

Scorpius shrugged. "I guess it's more than money when it comes to my Dad." He looked at Ron who was still looking pretty bitter about the situation. "I bet if your grandfather had the money he would have taken your dad to the game right now. He's looking very upset. I'm amazed he hasn't thrown quite a fit. I used to when I was his age," he confessed.

Ron squirmed in frustration. He turned and buried his face on his pillow. "It's unfair!" he grumbled. "It's unfair that he doesn't take me out. He takes Bill, he takes Charlie, he takes the twins, and he takes even Percy to the games. But no, not Ron. He's always too little. He won't understand it yet. When am I no too little to go to a game then? Now that I'm off to Hogwarts soon, they don't have time!" Ron could feel his anger beat his chest.

Suddenly, something tapped his window. He turned and saw Errol. He let the owl in. The owl dropped a letter into his hands and then went back outside. Ron blinked as he tore open the letter. His eyes scanned through the whole thing for a few seconds and then he threw it aside. He went back to his bed and buried his face again.

"What does it say?" asked Scorpius. He and Rose walked over to look at the letter. "I'll read it. Hey Ron, it's Fred. Hogwarts is the best place there is to be. I'll soon send you off a piece from the wall, I promise. Hope and Ginny have been getting along without us. It won't kill you to pull a prank at each other right? You know what the best part is? Mum is not here to bark orders at us. We got into detention again, but it's not that bad. Anyway, I hope to see you on Christmas! Write back all right? Tell me the fun you're having. Cheers, brother."

Rose raised an eyebrow. "Cheers?" She gave Scorpius a smile. "I told you getting detention isn't that bad. Look, they do enjoy it like I do." Scorpius tilted his head. "Oh don't ruin the fun, Malfoy," she snapped at him playfully.

Ron turned and faced the ceiling again. "They always get the fun and I'm always stuck here alone doing nothing. Funny how that always happens." Ron placed his arm on his forehead and closed his eyes. "Fun, huh?" He yawned before turning to his side.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

I'm just a kid
And life is a nightmare
I'm just a kid
I know that it's not fair
Nobody cares cuz I'm alone and the world is having more fun than me

-Simple Plan-

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"He must be falling asleep," sad Rose. Scorpius nodded. Rose looked at him. "I guess I shouldn't say dad never understands me from now. I always do complain that he never understands me when I can't go malling with my Muggle friends from time to time." She looked at her father's face as it slowly faded. "I guess he understands me more than anyone in this world does."

A/N: Thanks for reading, now please review. Sorry for the very late updates though...Been a bit busy and have limited time to internet access, hope you understand. Again, please review, thanks!

NEXT CHAPTER: Christmas is for Family