Chapter 6

A/N: Hello readers! Guess what! It SNOWED yesterday. Not the kind that stays, but it still happened. I was excited.

Thanks to all the wonderful people who reviewed and to thestarlitrose and jocelynnn for betaing! The story wouldn't be near as much fun without everyone's input!

Chapter 6 already! We're halfway done... Anyway, on with the chapter.

~Frosty

The months leading up to the winter holidays were excruciating. Scorpius didn't say a word to her besides shouting orders while on the Quidditch pitch. If she found his eyes on her, his mercurial orbs always held that icy glare she'd become used to. It seemed he reserved that expression just for her. Albus was a little cold to her as well but at least he spoke to her.

Being separated from her two best friends was hard, but their absence from her life made Rose that much more grateful that she had Lysander. After their kiss, Rose had thrown herself into her relationship with the dreamy boy, hoping that the kisses would get better with practice.

So far they hadn't, but Lysander seemed content with just holding her hand most of the time. Guilt plagued her because he was so willing to wait while she was almost certain she would never be able to give what he was waiting for.

How was she supposed to move on and enjoy what she had with Lysander when she was being haunted by that one kiss with Scorpius? Despite her near desperate efforts to forget, the moment was burned into her mind.

"Rose, you've been sad for months," Lysander observed.

Guiltily, Rose looked up from the food she'd been pushing around her plate. She hadn't meant for Lysander to notice how miserable she'd been. In the morning they would both be going home for the winter holidays, so Rose had put a little more effort into her cheery facade.

Apparently even her additional effort fell short.

The redhead forced a smile. "What're you talking about? I'm perfectly happy."

Even to herself her voice sounded forced. Merlin, she was going to need to do better than that if she was going to fool her mum. Rose did her best to smooth the awkward edges away from her smile, hopefully making it look more natural.

Lysander shook his dark head. "No. You're pretending to be happy but your smiles never reach your eyes." He briefly glanced down before connecting his gaze with hers once again, showing uncharacteristic hesitation. "Is it because of me?"

He was so kind! Rose knew she didn't deserve him.

Suddenly fighting off tears, she threw her arms around her unfailingly kind boyfriend. "Of course it's not because of you! Don't worry. It's probably just exhaustion from all the studying I've been doing."

Lie.

"I'm sure I'll feel better after the holidays."

Lie.

She stretched her smile even further, hoping that over-expressing her happiness would throw the perceptive Lysander away from her mistruths.

His blue eyes told her he didn't believe her, but he nodded along anyway, eternally optimistic and always willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.

"Sure, Rose," he said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.


"You're not going to say goodbye to Scorpius?" Her mum asked once she had released Rose from a tight hug.

There was a pang in her stomach at the mention of his name, but Rose was used to that; it had been happening for months. Just because she was used to it didn't mean that it hurt any less, but she'd just become numbed to the pain.

Her eyes slid across the many people gathered on the platform until they landed on a pair of brilliant blond heads. Scorpius and his father stood out even among so many people. Scorpius was hugging his mum and smiling at his dad over her shoulder. He didn't look nearly as miserable as Rose felt. Maybe she was the only one truly affected by the rift that had sprung up between them.

"Rose?" Hermione asked when she didn't immediately receive an answer.

It had become something of a tradition upon separating for the holidays for Rose to give Scorpius a tight hug and a parting promise of saving him a seat on the train ride back to school. The whole thing had started in first year, when the blond had offered to pretend not to know her so her family didn't get upset.

An angry Rose had stormed off the train with Scorpius following behind her, unsure. In retaliation for his stupid comment, she'd thrown her arms around him in full view of everyone once they were on the platform. They were friends and she wasn't going to let her family dictate who she befriended. The looks on both their father's faces had been priceless. Draco and Ron had eventually become used to the sight, but the tradition had persisted.

Rose looked over towards the Malfoys once again. Scorpius was pointedly avoiding even glancing in her direction.

"No mum, we don't do that anymore," she said quietly.

Hermione shot a glance at her husband, but he was too busy talking excitedly with Hugo about the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

"I'm not the only one playing Quidditch. Rose is a chaser," her traitor of a brother said. Rose had purposely avoided telling her parents about her position on the team because her dad would no-doubt going to make her join in the usual Weasley Christmas game to see how much she'd improved.

"Really, Rose?" Ron said, looking like Christmas had come early. "How in the world did they get you to join the team?"

"Apparently Scorpius can be very persuasive," Hugo said with a grin.

"Can we just get out of here?" Rose begged. She was starting to wonder why it was that she'd been looking forward to coming home.


Her mum found her in her room that night.

"Rose, do you need to talk about anything?" Hermione asked, running her hands along the stuffed bunnies Rose had been so fond of as a little girl. They were no longer guarding her bed from monsters; instead they were arranged on a shelf, collecting dust. After so many years of keeping her company, Rose had been unable to just dispose of them like they were trash because she'd outgrown them.

"I don't know what you mean," the girl in question said. She was curled up in her window seat, her arms wrapped around her legs and staring outside at the snow falling in the yard. A large quilt from her bed was wrapped around her shoulders for extra protection against the cold that radiated from the other side of the glass.

Hermione squeezed in beside her daughter on the seat. It had been a better fit when Rose was five and happy to snuggle into her mum's lap, but they both managed to wedge in – barely.

Wrapping an arm around Rose's shoulders, Hermione leant against her. "How about we start with why you didn't hug Scorpius like always and work from there?"

Years of Auror's work had made Hermione a little too observant for her children to be able to fool her for long. She was always one to strike right at the heart of the matter immediately, leaving no room for nonsense.

While she thought on her answer, Rose watched a snowflake hit the window pane and melt, sliding down the glass. Should she tell her mum what had happened? Hermione Weasley was known for her wise advice and secret-keeping when it was needed, but Rose wasn't sure she wanted to talk about it. She would have gone to the Giant Squid with her problems, but the lake had become a place of memories better left avoided. Also the lake had frozen and the Giant Squid retreated into the depths for the winter.

"I was trying out for the Quidditch team when I had this sudden... epiphany." Rose wanted to completely avoid mentioning visions or hallucinations; either one of those would make her mum think she was insane. She wanted advice, not to be checked into St. Mungo's. "I think I might... have feelings for Scorpius, but he'd never feel the same way about me. We had a falling out."

Understatement of the year, but she didn't want to get into the gory details. Good with advice or not, she was still talking with her mum, and some things were just not shared with parents. Besides, from what Aunt Ginny had told her, her mum hadn't had what most would call a smooth relationship with her dad when they were in school. Maybe romantic ineptitude just ran in the family.

Hermione looked at her daughter with sad eyes. "Honey, that boy's been in love with you since you were both eleven."

A little spark of hope ignited in her chest before Rose brutally crushed it. Though she may have been very wise, her mum wasn't infallible and relationships weren't exactly her forte.

Her mum was wrong. She had to be. Getting her hopes up and then having them crushed would be too much for Rose's wounded heart to bear. It would shatter.

Knowing that her daughter didn't believe her, Hermione sighed. The children wouldn't appreciate her meddling, but it pained her to have to watch her daughter so miserable when it was unnecessary. Hermione knew that Scorpius would be more than thrilled if Rose were to return his feelings openly. Sadly, she had done all she could and was going to have to let them work it out themselves. She and Ron had managed it, so there was hope for their daughter yet. The only thing she could do for her daughter was try and make the holidays as enjoyable as possible for Rose so that when she went back to school, she'd have that happiness to fall back on while she worked out her problems.

"Want to go make cookies and then eat them all in front of your dad?" Hermione asked. It used to be one of Rose's favourite games. When she was little, it had never ceased to amuse her to steal and eat the last cookie just as Ron reached for it and then giggle maniacally while he watched the last sugary morsels disappear.

Rose flashed an evil grin, looking more like herself than she had since getting off the train. "Can we make dad's favourite?"

"Of course," Hermione said, standing up and leading the way to the kitchen.


"Rosie! Albus is here to see you!" Ron yelled up the stairs. He was still a little bitter about the cookie incident from days ago, but he'd been willing to let it go once Hermione pointed out that Rose had actually laughed, something they hadn't been hearing much of recently.

Rose sighed and fished around for her bookmark in the blanket wrapped around her shoulders. She was forever losing the little slips of paper in her bed, or chair, or wherever else it was that she was reading. Once again she was perched in her window seat, sitting quietly and reading.

She'd been home for a week and a half and this was the first time Albus had bothered to come and see her. On a normal holiday, they would have been back and forth to each other's homes almost constantly. After the first few days with no visit from him, she'd assumed she was going to spend the holidays alone, save for when the entire family got together.

Just as she stuck the bookmark into her page, the door creaked open and Albus edged inside. It was obvious that he wasn't sure if he was going to be welcome, which saddened Rose. Ever since they were small, they'd been more than comfortable just bursting into each other's rooms.

They were cousins for Merlin's sake. Frequently in the Weasley family, they'd just wander inside each other's homes, because everyone knew they were always welcome.

"This is stupid," were the first words out of his mouth.

Rose raised her eyebrows, inviting him to elaborate. She didn't want to get her hopes up if she'd misunderstood him.

"We've been best friends since we were in nappies. Since we had banded together to fend off James and the bugs he was forever trying to shove up our noses. This fighting is stupid," Albus said.

The five year old in Rose wanted to point out that it was Albus who had been basically ignoring her since she'd started dating Lysander, but she wanted her friend back more than she wanted to be petty. She wasn't sure what it was she should say, so they fell into silence.

Albus shifted slightly in discomfort.

"I thought I'd bring your Christmas present over here early." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a deep blue bottle with a purple ribbon around it in a clumsy bow. Albus had obviously tied it himself; he'd always sucked at bows. Usually, Rose was the one he went to when he needed the wrapping to look pretty.

She smiled her thanks. It was one of the few genuine smiles that had adorned her face in the last few months. Her eyebrows drew together as she read the label. "Heart's Desire?"

Albus nodded. "It's one of Uncle George's new potions. Drink it and it'll take you to what your heart desires most."

Eyeing the bottle warily, Rose pulled out the cork and took a sniff. It didn't seem dangerous or explosive – two things that one always checked for when trying out new Weasely's Wizard Wheezes products. However, Rose had learned at a young age that just because it didn't look like it would explode didn't mean it wouldn't.

Her cousin read her reluctant expression correctly. "Don't worry, I tried one of my own before I bought one for you. Mine took me to Grandma Weasley's house in a puff of blue smoke. She's already started making Christmas dinner and I was really craving some of her special turkey recipe."

Rose smiled. Poor Grandma Weasley was so used to people popping to her kitchen that she probably hadn't even blinked when Albus showed up in a puff of smoke and craving turkey. It wouldn't surprise her if the Weasley matriarch sent her cousin home with a plate of food in addition to the meal she'd most likely fed him.

Rose wasn't sure what it was that her heart desired the most. It probably wasn't food; that seemed to be a male tendency in her family. Perhaps the new edition of Hogwarts: A History that wasn't out for the public yet?

Maybe something less... material?

"Go on, try it," Albus said, watching her closely. "What harm could it do?"

Her eyes flashed and she glared at her cousin sharply. "Never say that about anything from Uncle George. You're practically asking for trouble."

"Just drink the potion and hope for the best, like we do with everything Uncle George hands us," Albus ordered, sounding impatient.

Rose frowned. It was like he knew where it was going to send her and was impatient to get on with the fun.

She wasn't sure she should drink it unless she knew where it was going to take her. What if what she desired most was another talk with the Giant Squid and the potion brought her to the bottom of the lake?

Pale hair and clear grey eyes flashed in her mind. It probably wasn't a talk with the squid that her heart desired the most.

What she really wanted was for the whole mess with Scorpius to never have happened, but Rose doubted Uncle George would have been able to get clearance from the Ministry to produce a product that had the capability of time travel. Those things were very carefully regulated.

"If this is some sort of trick, you're going to wish you were dead," she threatened.

He held his hands in the air. "You can use Veritaserum on me first if you want, but I guarantee it's exactly what I say it is."

With a sigh, Rose glanced between her cousin and the bottle, already knowing she was going to give into her curiosity soon. Might as well get it over with while there was someone present who could explain her disappearance to her parents.

Before she could over-think it, she closed her eyes and tipped the bottle back, pouring its contents into her mouth.

Surprisingly, the taste wasn't horrible. It tasted like blueberries with the tiniest hint of black liquorice. Slightly unripe and sour blueberries, but it could have been worse, the liquorice managed to keep the sourness from being overwhelming.

Almost immediately, a cloud of smoke the same colour as the potion's bottle swirled around her, accompanied by the tugging sensation of a Portkey. She didn't even have time to regret her decision as she was transported to a new location.

When the smoke cleared, Rose was standing in front of a rather impressive iron gate that was flanked by intimidating tall hedges. It was the albino peacock perched on top of said hedge that tipped her off about where she was. What other family would be so vain that they'd keep the loud and annoying birds around for appearances sake?

Her heart's desire was Scorpius, though she assumed the potion took her to present Scorpius instead of the one of the past. At least it was something less shallow than a desire for turkey - though the poultry option would have been much easier.

She may have suspected that the potion would take her to Malfoy Manor, but she hadn't thought much beyond that. Even when she was travelling to her destination, Rose was half expecting to prove just as simple in her heart's desire as her cousin and pop up in an ice cream parlour or something.

She would have Apparated right home as soon as she realized where she was, but a search of her pockets revealed that she didn't actually have her wand on her. The whole situation just kept getting better and better. A quick glance up and down the road showed that the hedge extended for as far as she could see in both directions. There would be no walking to a neighbour's and asking to use their Floo.

Out of options, Rose rang the bell that was attached to the gate and waited, not happy with the turn her vacation had taken. It was supposed to be relaxing, not nerve wracking!

A few minutes later, Mr. Malfoy came wandering up the path on the other side of the bars. Rose had been pacing back and forth in front of the gates, debating what she was going to say when someone answered the ring. She'd been praying it wouldn't be Scorpius; he'd probably just give her that icy glare again and leave her stranded there.

Mr. Malfoy's eyebrows rose when he caught sight of his guest.

"Are you the reason for my son's impressive rage?" he asked, knowing exactly who was on his doorstep. She was the little sprite who had been in possession of his son's heart for years and had yet to even realize it.

Rose shifted uncomfortably before rifling around in her pocket and handing him the Heart's Desire bottle. It was too embarrassing to have to explain what had happened to this man who had the same eyes as Scorpius, those eyes that could see right through her.

He read the instructions, raised a questioning eyebrow and smirked but didn't actually say anything.

"Is Scorpius here?" Rose asked, doing her best not to blush and knowing she was failing miserably. There was no doubt in her mind that he'd read the instructions and assumed she had some type of feelings beyond friendship for his son. It was an excruciatingly awkward moment.

Scorpius had barely introduced her to his parents before and now she was forced to talk to his intimidating father without the buffer of her friend. She wasn't even sure said friend would even welcome her once he saw her!

"I hope so. If not and you're here for someone else - that would just be awkward all around," he said, reading the instructions on the bottle one more time and laughing a little. Maybe his son's happiness with this girl wasn't such a lost cause after all.

"Mr. Malfoy..." she shifted uncomfortably again. "Could you not tell Scorpius about how I got here?"

Draco sighed; and maybe he'd been completely right in assuming that the two would never pull their heads out of their arses anytime soon and see that their feelings were returned. Astoria's voice was in his head telling him he shouldn't meddle in his son's love life, so he reluctantly nodded to the girl.

"I won't say a word. But you should," he said, letting her through the gate and leading her into the house.

"Scorpius! There's a Weasley in the foyer and it's very unlikely she's here for me!" he yelled over his shoulder in a surprisingly loud voice. Rose supposed that living in such a large house would necessitate yelling just to be heard between rooms. The ability to yell so loudly would certainly save on all kinds of walking, and it certainly explained why Scorpius was so good at making himself heard on the Quidditch pitch.

"I'm keeping this bottle," Mr. Malfoy whispered to Rose as he wandered towards his study. He wouldn't say a word about how she arrived, but he wouldn't have to if he showed his idiot son the bottle. If the boy tried to break one more of Draco's very expensive and rare quills out of anger, Draco was going to chuck the bottle at the boy's head and let him figure it out.


Rose had been nervous since she'd realized she was at Malfoy Manor, but the feeling suddenly tripled. She would have thought meeting Draco Malfoy would be scarier than seeing his son, but apparently she was wrong. What she should have done was ask Mr. Malfoy if she could use the Floo and just go home with her metaphorical tail between her legs. Scorpius wouldn't even have to know that she'd been to his home at all.

Unfortunately, it seemed that there was a tiny sliver of Gryffindor in her after all, and it had chosen the most inopportune time to rear its fuzzy lion head – right before abandoning her again. Was bravery supposed to come in spurts like that? What use was it when brief periods of bravery were interspersed with such nerve-wracking bouts of anxiety?

She unconsciously started twisting her fingers together as her heart rate sped up. There were quiet footsteps thudding down the grand staircase in front of her, but she couldn't seem to bring herself to lift her eyes from the floor to look at him.

A pause in the steps probably meant that he'd seen her and was trying to decide if he should just leave her there and go back upstairs. Rose wouldn't blame him.

Since when was she nervous around Scorpius? This was the boy who sat on her in second year because she'd refused to share the last pumpkin pastry and he'd wanted it. He wasn't scary.

Except he was. Terrifying in fact.

A pair of large feet stopped in her field of vision, forcing her to look up and meet his eyes or just cower in front of him like some kind of idiot while he obviously waited for her acknowledgement. The former sounded like the better option of the two.

She blinked when her gaze drifted over his face; he looked horrible. His hair was unkempt and he was deathly pale, which really brought out the dark bags under his eyes.

"Have you been sick?" Rose asked, wide-eyed. She reached for him, but dropped her hand midway, remembering they weren't on speaking terms anymore.

His eyes followed the moment and darkened slightly when her hand fell. Other than that brief flash of emotion, his face didn't betray his feelings.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded flatly, ignoring her question.

She shuffled from one foot to the other, feeling immensely uncomfortable. Telling him about the potion was out, but she didn't want to lie outright...

"I miss you," she said, looking him right in the eye.

He was silent, watching her with a tired but unreadable gaze. Rose really wished he wasn't so hard to read when he was upset. She'd like a warning if he was going to start cursing her.

Her heart pounded while she waited to see what he was going to say.