WARNING: Harsh language and sensitive themes present below

ACT III - PERIPETEIA

(Sixth Year, Part I)

"Hogwarts Hogwarts the Hog-filled Warty Castle, teach us something please. Whether we be old and hairy or young with scaly knees. Fill our brains with poison and little bits of nail. Just don't do us in before we're jailed." Pippa finished her song by striking her fork on the glass in front of her. A ringing filled the Great Hall that was lost to the general noise of supper.

"What a lovely rendition of the Hogwarts school song," Rose said sarcastically. "It's even better than the original!"

"Isn't that how it went?" Pippa said, digging into her lasagna with a large bite. "I swear I heard those lyrics from the choir."

". . . No. . . They were definitely different," said Aziza with a laugh. She and Rose piled their plates with vegetables and pasta and started eating.

It was a new school year and all the new students had been sorted, the choir had sung a few school songs, Pippa, Rose, and Aziza had received a detention for sitting at the Hufflepuff table during the welcoming feast, Nolan had already been hexed by Rose when she saw him eyeing Hugo's loose toad with an evil smirk, and Bertie Botts had long been devoured.

They all had passed OWLS, luckily. Even Pippa who did such minimal studying managed to make it through leaving them to wonder if it even was possible to fail the test.

New this year to Hogwarts was that Aziza had been selected to be a prefect. One of the Hufflepuff girls moved away over the summer and the spot was open. She joined the ranks of Al and Josef to wear the 'P' badges.

Rose was happy for Aziza, but she felt bitter afterwards with the looks her mum was giving her over the summer when they heard the news. They were the same looks she got in fifth year when they heard Al was a prefect. She always knew she wouldn't get the title for she had too many detentions and misdemeanours on her record. Yet. . .

She knew how important it was to her mum that she live up to her name and be the best she could be. She knew it meant that the professors thought you were a leader and were responsible. Rose wasn't exactly a bad student. . . but she didn't exactly care about what people thought of her and therefore didn't work on image or controlling her temper and mouth to all those around her. Having no respect for the prefects her six previous years probably didn't help either; Rose knew she was reported more than once for ignoring and telling them off.

Pippa didn't get a badge either, but then again, that was almost a given.

After the feast ended, the three girls headed to the dungeons for their detention because they had to scrub cauldrons in the Potions lab. It was not a fun detention - usually they could make jokes and laugh around, but Pippa's mood went sour when the professor stayed in the classroom.

The cauldrons were charred and gross and rusted and they cleaned under the nose of the Potions Professor, an angry man who never smiled. The Potions room they were cleaning in was stuffy and there were barely any windows. They only had one set of leather gloves to protect their hands from the potion residue. After a few hours of vigorous scrubbing, the gloves would get holes in them and as a result, some of the potions residue got on their skin.

A cheering potion got on Rose's hands a few hours in and her fingers wouldn't stop moving around. It was like they had a life of their own and it was downright creepy.

By the time they finished that night, it was just before midnight. Rose trudged up to the tower half asleep on her feet.

Unluckily she got caught by one of the prefects. And she just didn't care so she didn't explain why she was out late. She walked away while the prefect was lecturing her on why she shouldn't be out past hours and blah blah blah. She got a detention for that. The prefect continued to follow her and her head was pounding and she wasn't listening at all.

That detention could have been avoided. Her mother wouldn't be very happy about it.

Rigel was following her around the school. Deliberately.

Rose went all the way to the Hospital Wing on the top floor and then turned right back around and headed to the dungeons, taking shortcuts and speed walking down hallways. The blasted cat steadily padded along behind her. She turned a corner, sprinted down the corridor and ducked under a tapestry to take the secret passageway up four floors. She was out of breath when she emerged from all the hidden stairs and thought she finally lost Rigel, but he meowed right behind her twenty seconds later.

"CAT! What! Gah!" Rose exclaimed at the annoying creature behind her raising her hands to try and ward him off. Guacamole was in her pocket, but Rigel didn't bother her toads anymore so Rose wasn't sure why she was being followed.

He gave another meow at her.

"I think you're absolutely, positively diabolical," Rose told him. "I'm not going to complain to Scorpius. It's like every time you're around I end up talking to him. And no! He has to come to me if he wants to be friends. I'm not the one who's embarrassed about every little thing. It's him."

She abruptly pivoted and took off running at that moment to go to the moving staircases. She accidentally ran through Nearly Headless Nick and he started scolding her. She didn't stop to hear his rant.

As she reached the platform, the staircase was just leaving.

"Oh shit," she said, with a quick glance behind her. She was desperate enough to make the split second decision to try to escape Rigel. "I'm doing it. Bloody hell."

There was the briefest hesitation before she jumped. A small scream came from her throat and the staircase was about a metre and a half away now. She was over just air – and then momentum brought her to the stone steps. She landed and fell a bit down the stairs before she managed to grab hold of the railing. That would probably bruise tomorrow.

"What is wrong with me," she said through disbelieving laughs. She just jumped to a staircase that was four floors up to escape a cat. She was insane!

"ROSE WEASLEY," she heard a voice scream from above her. "100 POINTS FROM GRYFFINDOR. DON'T YOU EVER DO SOMETHING SO DANGEROUS AGAIN!"

It was the Professor Alicant. Just her luck. And no one in her House would be impressed with her for losing all those points so early in the semester. Even better. It had been four years since Gryffindor even got close to winning the House Cup.

But she had to escape the manic cat!

She yelled out 'sorry' back and then quickly left the vicinity before she could be yelled at further. She turned the corner, tripped over a stone that was sticking out a little too far, and fell right in front of the damned cat who was sitting stoically and placidly on the ground. Rose stopped, stunned.

"You're kidding me!" she exclaimed and rested her chin on her hands as she stared Rigel down. She stayed on the floor even though her elbows and knees were both skinned and bruised.

"You're telling me," Scorpius said behind her as he had seen her turn the corner and followed. He walked in front of her and she saw he was holding Matilda in his hands. "Rose, Matilda won't stop hopping behind me."

Rose's mouth dropped. "What! Your cat won't stop following me! And he's been doing it for the past five years. Matilda has never followed you before. Are you sure?"

He waited for her to pull herself up before he thrust the toad into her hands and crossed his arms. "I'm sure. He's followed me from the Greenhouses to Hagrid's house to the Great Hall. . . "

"What is wrong with them?" Rose muttered, more to herself than to him.

"Yeah. . . " Scorpius scratched his head. "I don't really care too much that your toad was following me, it's just that if Nolan and his friends see her, they're going to stomp on her or do something else cruel like that."

Oh. Rose scowled at the thought. "Thanks for warning me, I guess."

"Yeah. . . " Scorpius shuffled his feet together and took particular interest in the lamp on the wall. "Rose, I do want to be friends still. With you and Pippa and Azzy. I just. . . " He paused and continued much slower. "Well Nolan thinks you guys are the scum of the Earth and. . . "

He left the sentence hanging. And I'm more scared of him than you. And he controls my life. And I can't stick up for myself. And he's a family friend. Rose wondered what he would say if she pushed him to answer. But she didn't. She was scared of his real response.

"We miss having you around," she stated. "You're always welcome to join us and do homework or whatever."

Scorpius gave a half-grin that unfortunately didn't show his dimple and then said, "Potions homework getting you lot stuck again?"

Rose scowled again, but a different scowl than before; this one more playful. "You wish. It's the Herbology we're stuck on."

Scorpius groaned at that thought, for someone who loved the outdoors as much as him he had a problem with the plant class.

The two joked around, at ease, for the first time in almost a year before departing, carrying their respective pets. Rose realised how much she missed talking with Scorpius and hanging out with him. It was almost like nothing had happened; she was glad they talked.

An idea entered Rose's head. A little squirming idea that just wouldn't leave her alone.

It started when Aziza was drawing in class one day. She drew a generic boy, and dressed him in regal looking clothes. She added a cape, puffy shoulders, and a crown. Around him she drew a King and Queen, making the boy effectively a prince. She then erased the boys arm and redrew it so it pointed accusingly at the King and Queen, who sat stiff and unmoving; emotionless in front of him.

"Stop the madness. Stop the slaughter!" Rose wrote on her own paper after Aziza finished the doodle. She immediately crossed it out. She wasn't sure where the phrase had come from. Aziza closed her sketchbook and started focusing on Charms again. But the idea was planted in Rose's head.

A few days later she stood alone in the hallway and raised her hand towards the imaginary King and Queen. "Stop the madness. Stop the slaughter!" she said quietly. "I've stood by too long and allowed your tyranny to overwhelm our people. Something needs to be done. You can no longer bully me into doing what you say. I have a voice and it's about time it was heard."

She stopped talking when she heard voices around the corner. But instead of letting the thought die, she immediately pulled out some parchment and sat down against the wall as she started madly scribbling out what she just said.

Either she was reading too many Shakespearean plays or –

She didn't know what she would do with such a speech at this moment. . . But if she made up some characters and a setting. . . Perhaps. . . Perhaps. . .

There was a world of possibilities.

Rose and Aziza were eating supper when they noticed Pippa slowly walking towards them, pausing after every step and looking around her. She was clad in mugglewear: black trousers and a woolen jumper.

"What's she doing?" asked Aziza. "She looks suspicious. Did she punch anybody recently?"

"Very good question. . . " muttered Rose. They were both still in their Hogwarts uniform. Pippa probably changed sometime between last class and one of her detentions. It looked like Pippa had a bulge in her jumper where her hands were in the front pocket.

"Are you folks done eating?" asked Pippa. She slid into the seat across from them and leaned over the table, letting her brown hair drag in the bean casserole and not even caring.

"We could be. . ?" said Aziza, eyeing her up through her blue specs like she was an unwanted insect. "What did you just do?"

Pippa pulled back and grinned mischievously. "Come and you will see."

"Pippa. . . " warned Rose. She was just finishing up her almond and pear salad. Out of respect to Aziza, she didn't eat meat in front of her. However, since all their meals were eaten together Rose was practically a vegetarian too (unofficially of course).

Pippa surreptitiously glanced around and then gestured for the two girls to look closer. She pulled something from her pocket - just a corner was pulled back and they could see a brown opaque bottle, almost like -

"Are you kidding me!" said Rose. She leant over the table in one swift motion and covered up the exposed bottle. "Why the hell would you bring that in here! Are you crazy?"

Pippa grinned maniacally. "Certified. Seriously. My mum made me see a shrink this summer. I may now have a muggle police restraining order against me. That could just be a rumour, or maybe not. . . "

Aziza looked confused. "What does she have?" she asked Rose.

"A fucking firewhisky bottle!" she growled quietly. Aziza spit out her orange juice and started coughing.

"You - you didn't!" stammered Aziza between coughs. "You're going to get into so much trouble! Who did you get that from?"

"I have my sources. They prefer to remain anonymous." She grinned at the two of them. "Holy Medusa, it's not like this is poison and I'm out to kill anybody." She waggled her eyebrows.

"We're all underage!" hissed Rose. It felt like the whole Great Hall was looking at them. "There is no way in HELL that - "

"Oh shut up and follow me!" uttered Pippa with a roll of her eyes and she quickly scurried out of the hall.

"Oh nononono. She can't be serious!" Aziza put her head in her hand. "If anyone catches her she is going to be expelled!"

Rose slammed her fork on the table next to her plate. "Come on. We've got to – talk sense into her or something. I can't believe she brought that in here. She's completely lost her mind." There was something weird going on with Pippa. She hadn't been acting like herself at all for the start of the year and now with this, it wasn't leaving a good feeling in Rose's stomach.

Aziza looked troubled as she followed Rose out of the Great Hall. Even though it felt like everyone was watching them, in reality nobody had noticed their little altercation. Pippa was standing by the large doors and as soon as she saw the two emerge from the Hall she opened the door to the night and went out. Rose and Aziza could do nothing except follow.

"Pippa. Stop. What are you doing?" called out Rose once they were outside. "You're going to get caught."

"We're going to get drunk. And we won't get caught. There's no Quidditch tonight and it looks like rain, so everyone will be inside."

That was who Pippa was, she didn't ask. She commanded.

"Pippa, I'm a prefect now! I can't drink alcohol when I have to patrol and be a role model. And I have Quidditch practice tomorrow morning."

Pippa turned around and put her hands on her hips. "Oh. So that's it now? You're getting too good for me and Rose? Can't have a little fun with your friends still?"

Pippa walked up to Rose and hooked her arm around her waist, pulling back a little to make the separation between them more apparent. Rose was still shocked that something like that came out of Pippa's mouth.

Aziza stood defensively. "Don't turn this against me. Of course I'm still friends with you two. I just don't want to drink or risk getting caught. This isn't a game for me. As older students we have more responsibility. I also like playing Quidditch and don't want that privilege taken away."

"Medusa! You're such a fun spoiler. Seriously. We won't get caught. Coming?" She started tugging Rose away as she whispered 'thanks for being a great friend Rose.' Rose shot a pleading look at Aziza. She didn't know how to say no without hurting Pippa's feelings, but she didn't want to go alone.

Aziza stood there for a long time before she slowly followed. Rose kept shooting glances. She didn't know what to do. They were both her friends and she didn't want to fight with either but she didn't know what to say.

"Pippa. We're underage," said Rose. "I've never had firewhisky in my life." She'd occasionally had a sip of her parents wine. . . but firewhisky was a whole new level.

"Rose. Who cares. We can do what we want. We're young and full of life. I've never had firewhisky either. It'll be fun."

Pippa led her all the way to under the Hufflepuff Quidditch stands; the farthest from the castle they could be in the area. They sat down and waited for Aziza to come up. She could barely be seen in the dark because there was no moonlight and she blended into the night well. Aziza sat crossed legged and they formed a little circle. The firewhisky bottle was placed in the middle.

"Stop acting like this is a death sentence. We need to get drunk now so when we go to the parties the Sixth and Seventh Years throw we don't look like amateurs."

Aziza was shaking her head. "I'm not going to those parties."

Pippa let out a huff of air. "Aziza don't be such a goody-two shoes. It's called living a little."

She waited a moment, almost expecting someone else to take the first drink. Nobody moved.

Pippa huffed impatiently and roughly unscrewed the cap to take the first swig of whisky before she thrust the bottle into Aziza's reluctant arms, making grotesque faces and coughing.

With an impassive face Aziza took the bottle. She took a drink and passed the bottle on, being silent in the agony of the burning and only making a slight grimacing face.

It was now or never. Rose hesitantly picked up the bottle and nervously swirled the liquid in her hand. She wished she could be anywhere else in the world at this moment. But her friends had already taken a drink. She couldn't be one to back down.

She winced and despised herself as the firewhisky entered her mouth.

Aziza was the first to wake up in the morning. She took one look at her surroundings, one look at her watch and started frantically shaking Rose and Pippa.

"You guys. Wake up! Wake up!" She roughly shook the two. "Oh no . . "

They were in the Forbidden Forest. Rose had twigs and leaves entwined in her hair; Pippa was missing her trousers. And Aziza had scratches all over her hands, arms and even in the lenses of her glasses. They were also absolutely soaked.

Rose was the first to resume consciousness, and as soon as she saw where she was she shot up. Pippa was sleepier and was groaning.

"I have Quidditch practice in ten minutes," Aziza said with a controlled voice to Rose as she tapped her watch. Her lips were thin and Rose could sense the anger that encumbered her. Rose nodded and then Aziza got up and brushed off, quickly running to the school that could be seen way off in the distance.

Pippa slowly opened her eyes and looked at Rose. "That. Was. Epic," she said breathlessly.

Rose's stomach didn't feel very good. "Where's your trousers?"

"A unicorn stole them." Rose didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She had no memory of the previous night. Pippa didn't seem at all concerned that she was just in her knickers and soaked through.

"How?" But she didn't know if she even wanted to know.

"Well I fell into that puddle and got absolutely drenched. We hung my trousers on a tree even though it was raining because we hoped they would somehow dry. They didn't - and then some unicorn got stuck in them as he was tramping around the place and ran off with them on his golden horn thingy."

Rose laid back down on the forest floor. She just wasn't ready to deal with Pippa. She could feel a stick digging into her back.

"That was seriously the best night ever!" Pippa said excitedly. "I feel so alive!" She crawled over to Rose and got entirely too close for comfort as she looked down on her. "Let's do this every weekend, okay? Do you remember the part where you were singing and running so loudly you scared the herd of Hippogriffs? Or when Aziza fell out of the tree when she climbed up it to try to figure out the way back to the school?"

Rose didn't remember anything. It wasn't a good feeling and it scared her shitless. Pippa could be completely bullshitting her right now and Rose would have no idea.

"Just. . . What are you doing Pippa? This isn't us and you're acting different. . . "

The smile immediately dropped from her face. "Rose, you're 16 now. Not a fucking baby. It's time you acted like your age for once and stopped living in your fancies and kid plays."

"Oh," she said as her mouth dropped open. What! Rose felt absolutely crushed that Pippa could say that to her.

"I've got so many plans for us this year." Pippa's mood turned a complete 360 degrees and she put a smile back on her face. "We're going to have so much fun!" she said happily, disregarding the wounded look that graced Rose's face. Rose zoned Pippa out and just hoped they could sneak back to the castle without anyone noticing.

"I was just joking," Pippa said later when Rose still hadn't replied through her tirade. "Don't be turning into Azzy now." She tried to turn it into a joke, but Rose wasn't laughing.

After Pippa calmed down they snuck to Hagrids' hut and pulled off a wet pillowcase from the drooping clothesline. Rose silently promised him she'd return it. Pippa wrapped the cold material around herself and they tried to make themselves more presentable. Luckily they did make it to the school undetected.

Rose thought and hoped that would be the last of the outings, but the weekend after Pippa found her and cornered her. Rose found herself in a similar situation, this time without Aziza because they had no idea where she was.

Rose faked drinking. As they passed the bottle back and forth she only took a few sips. Pippa got progressively more drunk and happy whilst Rose stayed buzzed and miserable. She really didn't want to have any more and hoped that after the wicked hangovers Pippa received that it would stop her from drinking.

But in reality, it was just the beginning.

For the next month straight, Rose started avoiding Pippa on Fridays and Saturdays. On Monday mornings when Pippa asked where she was, she always made silly excuses like, 'I was helping Hugo with homework,' 'I was bathing my toads,' 'I had a gnarly headache,' or 'I was hanging with Scorpius.'

Pippa drank the first few weekends alone by herself before she started venturing out to find those with similar interests, people who had never given her the light of day before, nor she them. Rose started hearing stories of all the new people Pippa was meeting and the ridiculous stories of what happened or how they were almost caught. Rose found firewhisky so unappealing that the stories didn't make her envious; she had no interest in joining Pippa on the weekends. Aziza stuck with Rose and the two of them hid out together.

"No wonder we're such losers," Rose said miserably one time as they were behind a tapestry. They had seen Pippa off in the distance and ran to hide from her. "People our age are supposed to like going out and doing this stuff."

"It's not our whole year doing it," Aziza said. "There are maybe only ten of them that go out with the Seventh years. And it's not for everyone. I'd rather be a loser than be uncomfortable and unsafe doing something I have no interest in."

Rose had to agree with her.

"Knight to E5," Scorpius said. He was fiercely concentrated on the board, running through all the possible scenarios in his head of piece movements.

It was down to the last six pieces on the board and things were getting intense. Rose wasn't a nail biter by any means but she couldn't help it today. Her thumb nail was almost gone. Hugo was also tense beside her, but he held still. Chess was one of his favourite games and he could get so focused on the game he forgot the outside world existed. They were in the Slytherin Common Room and had been playing for at least four hours, winner staying to play the next match. Albus won two, Rose one, Hugo three, and Scorpius one.

"Queen to D2."

Albus tisked loudly and Scorpius gave her a quick glance – to check if her sanity was still there, for it could be considered a stupid move with so few pieces left. It left her vulnerable to his rook. The Queen slowly moved across the board and settled into the position. She started nibbling her finger nail again. He either would move his knight which she was hoping against - or his rook, which she considered the greater threat, because then she could take his rook with her pawn, and after that there would be a path for her –

"Bishop to D2."

The blood drained from her face. She didn't see the bishop there. She totally missed it. Of all the bloody pieces – !

The game finished in a few short moves after that with Scorpius cornering and defeating her King.

Scorpius collapsed in his seat with a groan. "Finally I beat you! Good game Rose."

Rose showed him her finger. "I bit my nail down! I've never done that before. 'Twas very well played."

"Rose, if you would have seen the bishop there. . . " Albus said as he scooted her from her chair and sat down. He was to play the winner.

"I know! Can't win every one though." Rose picked up Rigel who had been sitting on her feet and set him in her lap to watch the next match.

"Not everyone can be exceptionally talented at this game," said Albus slyly.

Rose flicked Hugo in the shoulder. Out of them all, Hugo's tactics were the most refined and he was usually the hardest one to beat."Take Al down next. His ego needs some shaping."

"No problem."

Scorpius scowled at the two of them. "Thanks for all the faith."

Oops. "You can do it," Rose said weakly with a thumbs up.

He rolled his eyes. "Nice try."

Early in December Hugo came up to Rose and wrapped his arms around her tightly.

". . . Well hello," she said to him, surprised by his sudden display of affection. Hugo was fourteen and just as tall as her, to her chagrin. His arms were wrapped around her arms, effectively pinning them to her body. She could feel his head on her back.

"So what's this for?" she asked when he didn't let go. It was in between classes and they were standing in the middle of a crowded corridor. The odd person got too close and budged them, but most of the students gave a wide berth.

Hugo said with a voice muffled by her back, "sometimes people say things that aren't very nice about you. And I hear it."

"Ohh. Hugo," Rose said softly. She rubbed his arms as best as she could. "I'm sorry you had to hear that crap. I have too tough of a shell for anything they say to hurt me though. They're just inconsiderate people who think they're better than me."

Hugo gave one last squeeze and then released her. She turned to face him and saw how torn up he was about it. "But they don't even know you!"

Rose shrugged. "Sometimes people are scared of those who act differently than they do. And don't you worry about what they say. They aren't important in our lives and if bringing me down gives them happiness, well, then good for them for being so shallow and narrow-minded. I won't sink to their level."

"Rose. . . "

Rose shrugged and avoided his eyes. "It's okay Hugo. I'm used to it."

"You shouldn't have to be. It's not fair."

"Well, one more year and I'll most likely never see them again. Until then, I'll ignore it. Sometimes time is all that's needed."

Christmas shopping this year was tough. After they did the family draw (a way to save money in their huge family), Rose had to buy for her cousin Louis. She didn't know him as well as some of her other cousins because he was five years older than her, but her cousin Victoire was giving her ideas. Her and Hugo chipped in for their parents, which wasn't too bad because Hugo always had good ideas for them, and Aziza and Pippa were also easy. Her real conundrum was Scorpius.

She felt that this year she wanted to buy him something. They didn't talk about presents at all, so she didn't expect him to buy anything for her. It was just a nice gesture for that's what friends did, even secret friends. He had a way of making her laugh when no one did, or making her heart beat fanatically without any effort. But she did not fancy him, no. They were just good friends.

She kind of knew his interests; he liked a good game of chess or cards, but what she also figured out about him in the past few months (he was hiding from Nolan as much as she was from Pippa), was that he also really liked being outside and doing all sorts of outdoor activities. He carried a very neat magic compass around in his pocket that had a few different needles that pointed in different directions: North, the nearest water source, one pointed to home, and another to a loved one.

She knew next to nothing about outdoorsy things but decided to wing it and bought him a lantern that was lit whenever fingers were snapped. She wrote him a small note and sent it off late in the evening of Christmas Eve.

On Christmas morning, she found a gift from him under the tree. Rose had a small pile of presents but his was the first she opened. It was a notebook, a chocolate coloured moleskin that was covered in quotes from some of her books, and a few doodles and little drawings drawn all in black ink.

Happy Christmas Rose, the first page read. Hope you're enjoying your holidays! I know you've started getting into writing, so here is somewhere you can keep it all together. See you soon. Love from, Scorpius

"Who gave you that," her mum asked her as she picked it up and admired the outside. "It's beautiful."

"Scorpius Malfoy," Rose replied. "He's my friend from school." She couldn't believe he remembered all her favourite play quotes, or the ones from Fifth year she had written on the chalkboard that one fateful day.

Her dad dropped the new coffee mug he'd just unwrapped on his toe and started swearing. Her mum put the moleskin back in Rose's hands.

"How close of friends?" she asked slowly, her calculating eyes stuck on Rose.

"You're not allowed to be friends with him!" her dad said loudly as he held his toe in pain and rocked back and forth. A not very calm expression graced his face and he looked like he was going to start yelling at any moment.

Rose kept calm and just looked at her dad disbelievingly. "Sure Dad. . . I'm sixteen. You're trying to tell me who to be friends with? You've never met him before!"

His mouth opened and closed multiple times and he looked from Rose to her mum.

"He's my friend too," Hugo piped up with a grin. He held up a book on amphibian anatomy. "He gave me this for Christmas! He's pretty cool."

Her dad's neck and face turned red. Hugo and Rose took that as a cue to run out of the room, leaving their unopened presents for the moment, and giggling like mad almost as if they were young again and sneaking icing off the birthday cake.

"Maybe we'll invite him over sometime," Rose called out when they were safely in the kitchen.

"Ron, go take a walk before you turn any redder," their mum said. "It's Christmas and we're all finally here as a family. If Hugo and Rose are friends with him, I'm sure Scorpius is a lovely young man. Trust your kids. They're smart."

"We have the best mum ever," Hugo said. Rose couldn't help but agree. When their dad finally calmed down more, they went back to finish opening their presents.

After the careers talk with her parents last year, the presents she received from her family were a lot more themed towards it. She received a few books: How lighting can affect the stage, Stage makeup for beginners, So you want to be a playwright, and the whole sort; a few brochures for drama post-secondary schools around the U.K; and a few fashionable, 'artsy' clothes that Rose would probably appreciate more after Hogwarts.

Lily had drawn her name for the family draw and that was the next present she picked out from her diminishing pile. In Lily's clumsily wrapped present she found a few very old Victorian dresses; the sort of dresses they were looking for when they put on the play The Importance of Being Earnest. It was a different and unexpected present, but Rose loved it. She found an empty trunk from the attic and put them in there, officially starting 'The Dress-up Trunk.'

From Aziza, she received some fancy quills from Kenya: a few flamingo, white-starred robin, and a northern double-collared sunbird. The quills ranged in size from the size of her middle finger to the length of her foot.

Rose was slightly disappointed to find that Pippa didn't send her customary Happy Christmas very short and impersonal card for the holidays. Rose had never cared before, but this year she almost wanted reassurance about their dwindling friendship. Something was going on and they were being pushed away.

When she asked Aziza if she received anything from Pippa, Aziza said she hadn't.

They reached the Hogwarts Express about half an hour before it left the train station. Hugo went running to the train while Rose lackadaisily strolled, taking her time to deposit her trunk in their regular compartment at the caboose. Perhaps one of the biggest physical differences from how much she grew was that she could now reach the shelf where the trunk went and actually lift the trunk up there. Since she had loads of time before the train departed, she headed back out to the platform to wait for Aziza and Pippa.

Her parents had already left to go to work and so she leaned up against the wall – partly in the shadows and watched the Hogwarts students mingle. If it wasn't for a toad on each shoulder, she probably wouldn't have been recognized by the few who glanced her way. She was in her new Christmas clothes and it was a largely different style than anything she'd worn before consisting of muggle skinny jeans paired with brown boots she found for cheap, and a loose fabric green coat with a lining to protect from the cold.

She saw Scorpius arrive at the station with his parents. He seemed stiff and gave them a perfunctory hug each. They didn't smile or make small talk, but when a few of his Slytherin and Ravenclaw friends joined, they all seemed to loosen up and started catching up on the holidays.

The Potters arrived in a flurry and as always, managed to cause a scene when Lily's owl started hooting its head off. Rose didn't go meet them. She stayed leaning against the wall, waiting. There were a few younger years that noticed her and gave a small wave. Rose wasn't used to people acknowledging her presence so she almost forgot to wave back. It was Paul, Stella, and Alfie, the Gryffindors that Pippa always lost bets with on the Quidditch pitch.

Aziza finally made it and after depositing her trunk and she joined Rose at the wall.

"You don't look nearly as cool as you think you do," she said with a smirk.

"I'm not intending to look cool," Rose retorted back.

"I know. It would be much more badass if you had an owl on her shoulder. Or a snake. Or anything else really."

Rose laughed. "I love my toads and I think it's badass."

"Just because you think it is doesn't mean it is."

Rose grinned. Good ol' Azzy to keep her in place. The two settled in to wait.

It was getting very close to departure time before they finally saw Pippa. She came through alone to an almost empty platform and was walking slow and unsteadily. Her trunk seemed to be a liability to her; too heavy to carry. She was tripping and zigzagging back and forth.

"Do you think she needs help with her trunk? What's up with her?" Aziza said. They started walking towards her after Rose put Matilda and Guacamole in her pockets. At a metre away, they realised something was very wrong indeed. Pippa was drunk.

She had bloodshot eyes, smelled very strongly of alcohol, and was hiccupping softly. Coupled with the fact that she couldn't walk in a straight line or hold her trunk, Rose and Aziza knew this wouldn't be good. Aziza quickly took the trunk on the train while Rose pulled Pippa's hood up to conceal her face and held tightly to her arm to try to mask her staggering.

"I can fix your hair on the train," Rose said loudly as she steered Pippa toward the compartment and passed some Seventh Years. They had looked curiously at Pippa and Rose wanted to draw their attention away. She kept a calm and happy face and even threw in a laugh for pretenses. If anybody learned that Pippa was drunk. . .

Pippa was leaning heavily on her arm and Rose was doing everything she could to keep her up. Aziza stood at the ready and as soon as Pippa was inside, the door was shut.

"Pippa what is going on? You can't show up drunk to the Hogwarts Express!" excaimed Aziza angrily. She roughly pulled back the hood; Pippa's hair stuck up and looked like it hadn't been washed in days. Aziza held up a water bottle and piece of bread she had grabbed from the food trolley.

Pippa blankly looked at her with no response but did reach out to grab the bread. She started nibbling on it.

"Pippa!" Aziza repeated as Rose stood nervously there. She didn't know what to say. "What's going on? I'm supposed to report this type of behaviour and get a professor!"

The response was a soft snort. "Stop telling me. . . what to do," she replied slowly, her words slurring together.

"No! Start talking."

"Maybe we should wait until she's sober," Rose suggested softly to Aziza. Then the bread hit Aziza's face. Pippa had just thrown it.

"Stop telling me WHAT TO FUCKING DO!" she all but screamed out. Rose and Aziza stood in shock. Pippa muttered incomprehensible sentences under her breath before she leaned back against the seat, closed her eyes, and fell asleep.

Aziza and Rose got into a small argument about what to do about her. Aziza wanted to get a professor and get Pippa sorted out. Rose thought it was best to wait and see what Pippa said for herself; they couldn't just turn in their own friend. It would be a huge betrayal.

However, she could see where Aziza was coming from. Pippa had been acting out for months and doing reckless and dangerous things - more than normal. She wasn't treating Aziza very well and they were disjointed at the moment, stemming from who knew what.

When they were twenty minutes from Hogwarts, they shook Pippa awake. It took awhile for her to regain consciousness, but when she did, she looked startled to see them.

"What the. . . ! What are you two doing here?" she exclaimed.

"We're almost at the school. . . " Rose said slowly. "You're on the train right now."

"Holy Medusa. I can't remember getting on it. Do you have any water on you? My throat is dying."

Aziza silently handed the water bottle over and it was quickly polished off.

"Well, I guess I should get my school robes on. . . "

"Sit back down," Aziza said sharply, adopting her best prefect stance. "You're not getting up until we have an explanation for what this all was."

Pippa raised her eyebrows. "Stop being so prissy. It's called having fun."

"Pippa," Rose said. "That's not having fun. This was bloody scary! You can't just show up completely intoxicated to Hogwarts! It wasn't even eleven in the morning. Why did you drink right before?"

Pippa looked from Aziza to Rose and back again as a contemptuous smile started to form. "You guys are so young and innocent. Not everything is butterflies and smiles. . . I was just hanging with some people who happened to be drinking. And I had a few drinks with them. Chill out. It's not a big deal."

"It was eleven in the morning!"

Silence.

"I'm going to the prefects compartment," Aziza said. "I'm tired of this bullshit." She slammed the door behind her.

"Fuck. Aziza's getting annoying," Pippa said as she went digging through her trunk for robes.

Rose made no comment and pulled out a book. She honestly didn't know what to say, or how to put anything into words. And for the first time in her life, she couldn't focus on reading. But she did what she found she was having to do more and more, she was faking it.

It was a bad morning where Rose ran into five spiders before breakfast. She did have Matilda with her, but they still shook her up and caused minor panic attacks. It also tore apart her logic that all spiders died in wintertime. At breakfast time, Rose received a note by owl that instantly lifted her mood.

Can you help me with the Herbology assignment? Lunch in kitchens? -Scorpius

Aziza had recently made the guess that school kitchens were very close to her Common Room after constantly smelling the amazing cooking. It took her about two weeks to figure out how to access the inside but as soon as she did, she showed Rose, who then showed Scorpius. They didn't discuss it at all, but nobody showed Pippa.

The kitchen provided a safe and friendly space away from all the students. It helped in matters with Scorpius and interestingly, they had more access to vegetarian dishes. The House Elves were understanding and accommodated the two when they were eating in the kitchens, or when they weren't there, they sent up greater varieties to the Hufflepuff table.

Rose located Scorpius at his table and when he looked her way and she gave a nod.

She spent the morning in classes. Her classes with Slytherins weren't quite what they used to be. Pippa was sitting with a few Slytherin and Gryffindor girls in their year more often since they spent weekends together partying. Pippa had always asked Rose to come, but those girls weren't exactly people who Rose was comfortable with. First of all, they had been rude to her since First Year and second, there were always scandalous rumours about them that left Rose a little wary. Since Rose didn't go sit with them, she often found herself sitting at the back by herself. Aziza said the same thing was happening to her in the classes Hufflepuffs shared with Slytherins.

After morning classes were all finished, she went down to the kitchens where she found Scorpius seated on the floor by the faux Gryffindor table.

Because the House Elves were so insistent, she got a mug of green tea and then sat down by Scorpius, who was leaning back against the wall and had a few sandwiches on a plate already for them.

"So Herbology again, huh?" she said with a smile.

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "Plants don't make sense. They're so temperamental."

"Potions are worse! There are so many tiny things that can be done to a potion and it can change the whole outcome. So much hasn't been tested. At least plants are rather constant."

"Well if you put it that way. . . You make me sound like an idiot."

"You're still the one who gets potions!" Rose said. "Not an idiot. But here's my drawings and the paragraph. You can model them similarly, but –"

"– no copying," finished Scorpius as he bumped shoulders with her. "I know."

"Well it's important to learn on your own!"

"I'm teasing. I would never copy, ever. We think differently, for one. I just need a basis of where to start."

She handed her paper over to him and he started reading it. He stretched out his long legs next to hers and there was only the tiniest gap between them. Her eyes moved to the kitchens, watching the House Elves busily cook and chatter amongst themselves. It was actually quite spectacular seeing the magic going on: pots clanging, spoons stirring, food boiling.

Scorpius started questioning her about her paper and Herbology in general while writing jot notes down on his.

Aziza showed up about half an hour later after Quidditch practice finished and sat down by Rose, giving Scorpius a nod. She looked troubled and Rose asked what was wrong.

"Well, you can guess I'm sure. It's been building up to this the whole year, even the past two years. She's basically told me that I can't be friends or associate with her anymore because I'm in Quidditch, and a prefect. And a vegetarian and a goody-two shoes. . . "

Rose jerked her head to Aziza. There could only be one person Aziza meant. "She wouldn't!" Rose couldn't believe that, didn't want to.

"Well, she's still been going out on the weekends with 'the party crowd.' It hasn't slowed down or anything like we thought it would. . . And I don't know what they've been saying, but I know they're influencing who she's hanging out with and no matter how much she says she hates when people tell her what to do, she's easily going along with it."

"They're not the nicest people," Scorpius said quietly as he fiddled with his quill. "They're probably just keeping her around to ridicule her. That's what I hear from Nolan and his mates."

"Maybe I can talk to her. . . " Rose said. "And mention that we're worried she's going mad."

"I don't know what good that'll do. I honestly don't think she cares about us anymore."

"She has to. We've been friends for six years," Rose said. She didn't know if she believed herself.

Hello Aziza, Rose, and Pippa! It's been a long time since we've sent a letter but have we ever been busy. Denika recently married a very Russian man from way in the depths of Siberia. The wedding was half incomprehensible to me and the few other English guests for most of the attendees were Russian! He's a wonderfully interesting man and the two work at the university in Moscow now. One summer after you graduate you will have to go visit; she'd love to have you! I've just gotten back from a two year trek in the rainforests. All the owls were eaten by panthers so I do believe the last letter I tried to send is somewhere half digested or buried under a layer of organic matter. We've uncovered a few new species of tree frogs and it has been a very exciting time for us.

Rose - that little sketch you sent was very well written. Expand it more and add a few more characters! You never know what will come of it. Also, is your brother near you? I'm looking for an assistant this summer to go study the migration of the magical Bungee-Met frogs from Sweden to Morocco and Hugo would be perfect person. Ask him and let me know in your letter back, I'll write a formal letter of offer to present to him detailing all the important information if he's interested.

Aziza - I love all the drawings you sent. They are magnificent and I do believe you are very talented!

Pippa - I'm glad you are not letting prefects boss you around. I was one and happen to know that sometimes we get rather full of ourselves! I can't wait to hear about more of your adventures.

It's hard to believe you lot are in sixth year now and that Denika and I have been out of Hogwarts for equally as long. I'm excited to hear what your plans are after school is done.

As always, take care.

Kahil

"So. . . Do we show Pippa?"

"Would she care?"

Rose sighed loudly. "I just don't know."

Rose had every intention of going to find Pippa to try to have a serious talk with her. But the next day when she saw Pippa with a few older Ravenclaws, she chickened out and ducked into the library. She told herself she would talk to Pippa when she wasn't surrounded by people.

Secretly she knew Pippa was still her friend, and she didn't want to lose her like Aziza had.

Not suprisingly, Al and Josef were studying at a table when she wandered deeper into the book labyrinth. She pulled out the chair and sat across from them, not saying anything and putting her head down on the table.

"Just start talking," Al eventually said. "We're here to listen."

Rose picked her head up off the table and was surprised to find that her eyes were wet.

"I'm kind of worried about Pippa," Rose said, wiping at her eyes. "She's completely lost it. She's just told Aziza she no longer wants to be friends with her. How do you say that to someone you've been best friends with since First Year! I'm worried she's going to do something dangerous soon and really harm herself."

"She's always been reckless," pointed out Al. "Never really listens to anybody but herself."

"I know. But I can't really stop her from anything. I mean, when we were younger - it was just fun stuff that we did. Harmless. But it's not the same anymore. I've attempted half-heatedly talking to her in the past few months, but she brushes past it, ignores it, or gets mad! I don't know what to do! Aziza has been trying more than I have to help her, but it just tore apart their friendship and now I'm stuck in the middle."

"Have you tried recently to have a conversation with her?"

Rose was troubled. "I'm supposed to. But I chickened out and found you guys instead. . . I'm afraid that if I do say something Pippa will get mad at me and throw me to the curb, for good. And that's such a selfish thought because I don't want to lose her friendship! And I think she might go completely off the radar and do something outright stupid if we get into a fight. I don't trust the new friends of hers. At least I'm somewhat of an anchor to normalcy. Unless I'm imagining that. . . Maybe she doesn't even like me but I just haven't pissed her off enough yet to completely ditch me."

Josef was studying her intently; she felt like he was looking at her under a microscope.

Al grabbed her hand and squeezed. "Pippa does care even if she doesn't show it. You're in a tough position because you've been friends for so long. Always remember that Pippa's going to have to learn when to stop herself. She keeps pushing and pushing at the limits, waiting for someone to react and tell her no. She thrives off of people telling her she can't do anything because she goes out and does it."

"It's a path to self-destruction," Josef commented. "Sometimes there's nothing you can do to help someone when they can't even help themselves."

"I'm scared for her. And I'm scared for me and Aziza because we're the only ones who care about her wellbeing. How can we not do anything about it?"

Al and Josef traded looks and looked sympathetically at Rose.

"I just hope when the time comes you'll be able to make the right decision. Even if it's not the easiest."

Rose thought she would have a few days before they had a big talk, but Pippa cornered her the next morning and asked if she wanted to go for a walk. Rose was totally blindsided when Pippa started the conversation with a topic about boys.

"Who do you think the hottest boy in our year is?" asked Pippa as the two walked around the school. It was a rare event now that Pippa and Rose hung out alone. At the forefront of Rose's mind were all the things she knew she should saw. Nothing was coming out. Let's just see what she says. . .

Rose shrugged. There was a name that came to mind but she would never voice it out loud.

"I've been seriously thinking about this the past few days. It's Nolan."

Rose gagged a little in her mouth. That wasn't who she was thinking of. "No."

"I know you don't like him, but that doesn't mean he's not attractive."

"No."

"Come on Rose. See some sense. He's got that gorgeous golden hair and is tall and so fit."

"Pippa. His attitude and demeanour are atrocious. He's the ugliest most foul-worthy person to me because he is cruel on the inside. His attitude completely ruins whatever looks he supposedly has."

"You're being rather rude right now."

"No, I'm being honest." What happened to Pippa hexing him for fun? How did he turn into the hottest boy in school; she never used to like him and used to be one of the people who saw who he actually was.

"Well it just so happens he has asked me out. We're going out on Friday night."

Rose stared at her in horror and took a step away from her. "What?" she said with a low voice. "Tell me you're joking. He's not a good person and will hurt you!"

"Oh live a little Rose. You've never even kissed a boy."

"You have?" she exclaimed.

"I might have kissed more than one. . . " Pippa said slyly with a wink. Usually her eyes were filled with mischievous fun, but now her eyes looked lifeless. There was no happy crinkle in the corners.

"Not Nolan. . . Please."

"No, they were older. Very friendly too. I'm going on this date with Nolan though. He's gorgeous. And that's all I've talked about with the other girls I hang out with. They're envious of me."

Rose was almost shaking at the thought of Pippa going out with Nolan. It would not end well. She couldn't let it happen and so Rose found herself standing up to Pippa a lot sooner than she anticipated. It was the most difficult thing she ever said.

"You're not going near him. I won't allow it. He's not a good person."

Pippa gave a rather fake laugh and looked at Rose disbelievingly. "You're joking right? You're trying to tell me what to do?"

"I'm saying this is my limit. We're friends Pippa and I'm hoping you value our friendship enough to keep it because I can't take it anymore. I'm not trying to hinder you, but you have got to see the reason here!"

"Excuse me? Is that a threat? You would drop six years of friendship because I'm going out with a boy you don't like. How petty is that?"

Rose had never been more serious in her life. She couldn't just stand by and let Pippa date Nolan. She couldn't. The two were standing face to face and Rose brought her finger up to point. "You would be the one dropping the friendship if you go out with him. I'm telling you right now to not do it or you will lose me as a friend. Please don't."

"What if I went out with Scorpius? He's a Slytherin, like Nolan. Nolan's friend. Really close to Nolan in the looks department. Would you have such a big problem with that, huh? Weasley?"

It was like Pippa was stabbing a knife into her heart. She felt each stab of her sentences like it was happening in reality. Rose's mouth dropped and she was angry. Pippa didn't understand anything.

Pippa shrugged. "I thought you knew me better. Thanks for nothing."

The large potted geraniums looked so innocent sitting in the pots. They were pink, purple, blue, and red in their petals and all had a large black centre on a very thick stem. It wasn't just the black center you had to worry about, it was everything.

"Alright class," said Professor Longbottom to his sixth year Gryffindors and Slytherins. "Today we are going to be collecting the Grasshoppers for the Third Years potions classes. These carnivorous geraniums have been sitting in the middle of the Forbidden Forest for the past month. Their diet consists of both Igmap and Gravely Grasshoppers. Hopefully we'll find numerous of each inside each plant."

"Inside each plant!" exclaimed Pippa in a loud whisper. "What does that mean?"

Each bench contained three people and by some horrible coincidence Pippa was late to class and the only available spot was with Rose and Scorpius. At first, Rose thought Pippa was going to completely ignore them, but she did the opposite. She gave Scorpius sheep eyes and shuffled closer to him, touching their legs and shoulders together, looking at Rose and daring her to say something. Scorpius shot Rose a confused look before he moved away from her a little bit and started listening to the Professor's speech, not averting his eyes away. Pippa moved closer so she was touching him again.

"He'll explain. Shh!" Rose said rather curtly.

"These geraniums are very sensitive so make sure there is no fast movement around them. When you insert a hand inside the geranium it is imperative that you go slow. Understood? If you go too quickly the geranium will chomp down on your hand. They have hundreds of cellulose hardened teeth that contain a sleeper on the ends. If they bite down, those teeth will be released into your arm and you will fall down, asleep, until someone can pick each and every tooth out. If that happens today, there's a chance you will spend a few hours knocked out in the hospital wing today before every tooth is out."

"Holy Medusa!" said Pippa. A few girls farther down the bench gave some giggles. Professor Longbottom put his finger to his lips at her.

"So I repeat. Go slow around them. Because this plant is very particular, no gloves can be worn. The smaller your hands are, the easier a time you will have. Hopefully you've read the required reading and can get started with the grasshoppers. I've only had four students in my eleven years of teaching get bitten. Don't let this class be the worst one. Go!"

Pippa eyed up Rose and Scorpius. "Just because I have the smallest hands doesn't mean I'm sticking them in there. No. No way, nuh uh."

Professor Longbottom heard her remark and stated over the noise, "everyone has to try it once."

Pippa, Rose, and Scorpius all stared at each other. Actually, no groups immediately stuck their hands inside the plant; everyone was looking at the flower in trepidation.

Rose took a deep breath. "Well. . . I guess I'll go first." The sooner she did it, the sooner it would be over.

"I'm not touching the plant," Pippa said stubbornly. She put her head on Scorpius's shoulder and wrapped her arm around his. He jumped at the contact and looked from Pippa to Rose with a confused face. "What is she doing?" he mouthed to her. Rose shrugged. She had no idea. If this was supposed to make her feel extremely uncomfortable it was working. She couldn't imagine what Scorpius was feeling. He tried to budge over but Pippa stayed stuck to him.

Rose drew her hand near the black centre a few times before she got brave enough to slowly sink a hand in. As her hand descended she could feel the prickly teeth against her hand and concentrated on going very slow. It almost felt like a very fine-toothed comb was running over her hands, a slimy fine-toothed comb. She paused halfway down when she realised something. "The grasshoppers. They're dead right?"

Scorpius's eyes popped out of his head and one of the Slytherin boys near Rose whose hand was halfway down the plant started whimpering.

Students started complaining to Professor Longbottom because they didn't want to touch grasshoppers.

Rose saw Neville throw his hands up in the air with all the negativity. She felt bad at the undesirable response from the class and so she reached inside and scooped a couple of the squirming insects.

"They're just grasshoppers. . . grasshoppers. . . Only. . . " She could feel their feet squirming around on her hand and couldn't help but envision spiders. She closed her eyes and continued pulling out of the flower slowly. She felt really faint and kept muttering 'grasshoppers' in her head to get the image of spiders out. Scorpius was holding the bag away from her body as Rose put the three insects she collected in it.

"Ok I have to sit down for a second," Rose muttered and dropped to the ground where she put her head between her knees.

"That's all you have to do class," said Professor Longbottom, thoroughly exasperated by this point. "Just reach in once to get grasshoppers. Even if it's only one! That's an automatic pass"

Scorpius jumped at the opportunity to go next to escape Pippa. She didn't let him go so easily. "You're so brave," she murmured as she rubbed his arm.

Rose lightly kicked Pippa in the shins and hissed at her. "Stop it! You're making everyone uncomfortable."

"I'm not uncomfortable." She pet Rose's check with her hand. That silenced Rose and she put her head back down between her legs as a bout of nausea came forth again. Pippa moved to stand by Scorpius.

"Man down, man down!" They heard some Gryffindors yell. One of the boys was unconscious on the ground. Professor Longbottom was rubbing his temple.

"Start picking the black teeth out of his arm," he told the group as he handed over a pair of forceps. "We'll bring him to the hospital wing after class." Rose could tell by the atmosphere in the Greenhouse that more people were going to end up going. It was a sickly, nervous, heavy atmosphere.

After the nausea passed, Rose lifted her head and watched Scorpius as he stuck his hand in the flower. She could hear him muttering, "plants aren't that temperamental. Plants aren't that temperamental. . . " Pippa kept looking at her and raising her eyebrows suggestively. Rose's face slowly turned red. She hated how Pippa was acting.

As soon as Scorpius reached the bottom she could see him start breathing quicker. It was hard to blindly trust that it was grasshoppers in the flower when you couldn't actually see them. With her eyes on Rose, Pippa ran her hand up his back slowly and seductively. Scorpius jumped at the contact and jerked away from her, pulling his arm out of the plant to gain more distance. He put his forearm near his face and looked at the imbedded teeth in surprise, slowly sinking to the floor, asleep.

Pippa started laughing. "Professor Longbottom! Malfoy seems to have gotten himself into a situation."

Longbottom came towards them with forceps and an exasperated look. "This is already the worst class in years for this assignment. Start picking out the black teeth in Scorpius's arm, Rose, and Pippa, get your grasshoppers. I'm watching."

He gave her a serious look before he had to run away to another fallen student.

Rose got off the ground and moved to Scorpius. She gently pulled his arm onto her lap as she stared in wonder at all the black dots that littered his forearm. Could one plant have that many teeth? It was going to suck pulling each and every one of them out. She leaned in closer to see and pulled one up. Only a few millimetres were showing above the skin, but the tooth was almost one centimetre in length.

She threw the 'tooth' in the rubbish bin and started picking the next one out. She looked up and Pippa was staring at her, looking almost sad.

"This is the stupidest class in the school. What a waste of my time." Pippa told Rose as she shook her head. She turned to the geranium. Her face softened for once and Rose saw some vulnerability shine through.

"Malfoy has the right idea," she said unhappily and then plunged her hand into the plant.

Rose couldn't do much else except stare, shocked, as Pippa fell to the ground with black teeth embedded in her arm.

"I need the cloak."

Lily looked up at Rose, noticing the red eyes and wild long hair. "I think Hugo has it now. Either him or Al," she said without hesitation or questioning why Rose needed it. Rose said thanks and went off in search of her brother who ended her goose chase before it really started and gave her the cloak.

On Friday evening she lied and told Aziza she was going to bed early. Where she actually went was the Slytherin Common Room under the cover of invisibility.

Pippa came in about an hour later and went up to her dorm room to start getting ready for her date. Rose stretched out her cramped up legs and followed her, slipping in before the door was shut. She was very conscious of her feet and made sure they were covered well.

There were two other Slytherin girls in the room. One of them was reading on her bed and the other was digging through her trunk. Rose stood patiently by the wall, waiting and listening.

". . . I know it's here somewhere," one of the girls said to Pippa as she looked through her trunk. "Ah-ha!" Out came a bottle of firewhisky.

"You're such a doll."

"I'm so jealous you're going out with Nolan. He certainly knows how to give a girl a good time." The girl winked at Pippa. Pippa wryly smiled and refocused her attention on some bright red lipstick. The three started passing the firewhisky around.

Rose felt sick to her stomach. And honestly didn't know what to do with herself while Pippa got ready because she couldn't watch. Pippa was plastering on so much makeup and she never wore makeup. Ever. It was like someone took Pippa's body and inserted a different girl. More crude comments were made about Nolan and Pippa was laughing and joking around, even making crude and suggestive comments about her own body.

After she finished getting ready, Pippa sat down on the bed and crossed her legs. Her skirt barely covered her. "I've heard a few different rumours about Nolan." She sounded slightly nervous.

The firewhisky was thrust into her hands and Pippa took another drink in lieu of finishing her sentence. "Don't worry about any of that. We're going to head out," one of the girls said. "We'll meet you tomorrow morning to hear all about it. . . Just remember. . . Nolan is fucking gorgeous. Don't ruin things. He's your chance in."

The two girls walked out of the common room, holding in laughs that only Rose could see.

". . . so easy. She's such a loser," she heard them whisper as they were just outside the door. When the door closed, Rose locked it with her almost mastered non-verbal spell.

Pippa was sitting dejectedly on the bed, staring straight ahead and fiddling with a piece of hair. At that moment, she looked like the loneliest girl at Hogwarts.

Rose took a big breath and pulled off the invisibility cloak. "Pippa," she started. Instantly Pippa shot upwards and narrowed her eyes.

"What are you doing here?" she said, none too pleased to see Rose. Rose noticed her pull down her skirt a few inches. "Get out. I don't want you here."

"Pippa those girls don't care about you," she pleaded. "They're using you and are laughing about you right now behind your back."

"You know what Rose, you're wrong. They do care about me. When's the last time you came out with me on the weekend? They introduce me to people, they have fun, and they watch my back. That's more than I can say about you. . ."

Rose gaped. "Excuse me! I'm here because I care. Pippa this isn't you. They don't know who you are and are letting you destroy yourself. You're going to get hurt."

Pippa laughed and laughed and then lifted up the firewhisky bottle and chugged a few mouthfuls. "This isn't me? You have no bloody clue who I actually am. And if I want to date Nolan, well you doubting me just proves that point."

"He's a bully and treats people like rubbish. Pippa, you are so much better than him. Don't let outside appearances be enough. You need someone who's good on the inside."

Pippa walked right up to Rose. "I think someone is a little jealous. Now move. I have a date."

"No!" Wasn't Pippa listening? How else could she explain!

"Oh, like you can stop me! I'm SO scared of a twiggy ginger NOBODY!" Pippa reached out and pushed Rose roughly. "Get out of the way."

Rose fell back but still stood in front of the doorway, blocking Pippa's path. She clenched her fists, aware of the wand that was a few inches away. . .

"Pippa he's going to hurt you if you go near him! How can't you see that! Do you know what I think? I think you're scared. I think you're terrified of letting in the people that actually love you because we'd try and stop you. And I'm not letting you hurt yourself more for acceptance or whatever other ludicrous reason you have for all this."

Pippa looked furious. "Don't you DARE, EVER, interfere in my life." Pippa quickly raised a hand and slapped Rose across the face. They both were stunned at what just happened - Pippa looked at her hand in shock and Rose was holding her cheek. A few tears escaped her eyes, even though the slap didn't really hurt. It was more the realisation that it was her best friend that just hit her that caused those tears to fall.

"Well, move!" Pippa exclaimed in a loud voice that was higher than normal. She avoided Rose's eyes.

"I'm sorry Pippa. Don't hate me," Rose said softly before Pippa started pushing her again. This was her last option and she knew it was going to have disastrous consequences. She pulled out her wand. "Petrificus Totalus."

Pippa fell down frozen with a surprised look stuck on her face.

Rose rubbed her cheek. Pippa was going to be absolutely without a doubt livid later. So mad in fact, that Rose was quite sure she would never be forgiven.

She dragged her friend over to her bed, lifted her in, and put the blankets over her. She then took the firewhisky bottle and dumped the rest of the alcohol down the sink.

"I know you can hear me Pippa. And I'm sorry it came to this. I can't just stand by and do nothing because this is ridiculous. I don't understand why everything is changing so much. I mean, we're friends, right? It's supposed to be a give and take relationship - so shouldn't my advice mean anything at all? . . . I feel like you have a lot of secrets right now that I don't know about and I'm sorry that this has been building and we haven't done anything. . . Maybe we should have tried talking. . . Maybe then we wouldn't have come to this. Please stop scaring me. Us. If you never talk to me again I'll understand."

She pulled the invisibility cloak back over her and went over to the Sixth Year boys dorm for the second part of her plan. She wished stopping Pippa would be enough, but for Nolan not to scout her out she needed to get him where it hurt: his pride.

With her ear against the door she could hear movement and shuffling around from a few bodies.

"Of course she will. I'm a God, aren't I," said a voice that was definitely Nolan.

There was laughter from the room.

"Where are you taking her?"

"Probably a broom cupboard. That's all the bitch deserves. She's fucking nuts. She'd probably spread her legs at the Headmistress's desk she's so easy."

"You're vile," Rose mouthed in horror at the door and then left to wait in the common room so she didn't have to hear any other abhorrent words come from his mouth.

Nolan emerged with all his friends, except Scorpius, about ten mintues later. His friends patted him on the back as they passed by to leave. Nolan sat on the back of the couch and started waiting for Pippa.

Rose took a deep breath, readied her wand, and took off the invisibility cloak.

"She's not coming you know." Rose said loudly from behind Nolan. He jerked around at her voice. She stood non-threateningly, with her hands clasped behind her back. Her hair hung around her face and she had worn plain muggle clothes to set herself even more apart from him.

"Good try Weasley. I won't be stood up and she knows it," he spat at her

Rose shrugged her shoulders. "She's not coming. I'm the messenger because she honestly didn't want to see your ugly face tonight. Jokes on you."

Nolan looked around, unsure what to believe.

"If you ever ask her out again she'll hex your face off. Then Aziza and I will go after you too. You're an asshole and nobody wants to date you. I don't know why you thought Pippa would actually go out with you. You're not a prize at all. Have fun explaining why you got rejected to your friends. . . "

Nolan looked up at the Slytherin girls dormitory and back at Rose a few times, mouth opening and closing.

"Fuck you Weasley. Nobody likes you. Go drown yourself."

He stormed out of the room and as soon as he was gone Rose breathed a sigh of relief. Hopefully that was all the end of that. She sank down in the armchair and just stared blankly at the wall. She wasn't really thinking of anything specific, but somehow she found herself getting up and walking up to the Sixth Year dorms. There was a small chance. . . and she pushed open the door.

Rose was in luck. Scorpius was lying on his bed and holding a pillow over his head. The lamp she bought him for Christmas was lit on his bedside table and robes, a hat, socks, and pyjamas were flung all around him. But he was alone and that was the most important thing. She let herself in and very quietly closed the door behind her, sneaking across the room to stand beside him.

He didn't appear to be moving at all and Rose was just thinking how creepy the cloak was. . . Hopefully her cousins didn't sneak around in peoples dorms.

His feet were tapping to some unknown beat and Rose wondered when his shoulders got so broad. And when did he surpass her in height? She remembered them being the same size back in First Year. Now he towered over her, closer to her dad's height. And he was handsome. She thought he was the most attractive boy in the school. Nolan be damned, Pippa wasn't in her right state of mind.

She didn't know how to notify him to her presence; obviously whatever she did would scare the bajeebers out of him since she snuck in. She thought if she just reached out and nudged him it wouldn't be too bad. However as soon as her hand touched his leg, he reacted.

Scorpius pushed the pillow off his face with a yell and tumbled off the bed, rolling away from her. He immediately jumped up and held his wand out, looking wildly around him. His hair was sticking up in all directions.

Under different circumstances Rous would have laughed her head off. But right now, she gave a weak smile as she took off the invisibility cloak and stood by his bed.

He looked relieved when he saw it was her and also looked in wonder at the cloak.

Then a dark look came across his face and he crossed the bed to grab her arm.

"Rose! You have to go stop Nolan. He's on a date with Pippa right now and - and -"

Rose started nodding. "I know. Pippa's stunned in her dorm room and Nolan is off being angry somewhere in the castle because Pippa supposedly blew him off."

"Thank goodness," mumbled Scorpius. Rose fidgeted on the spot a bit nervously. She wasn't sure why she came here when she easily could have gone back to the Gryffindor Common Room to dwell in her dark mood alone.

Scorpius turned his gaze away from her towards the cloak that was by her feet.

"Is that an invisibility cloak?"

Rose looked at him in surprise. "I thought you'd know about it. Al uses it all the time."

"Ohhh!" Scorpius's eyes widened and his fingers started knotting themselves. "Rigghht. Never mind I knew that. I'm just so used to - wearing it, that I didn't think of what the outside looked like. . . "

Rose raised her eyebrows. "I've never really had reason to borrow it before, but it is handy."

Scorpius nodded and then noticed the state of his bed. He widened his eyes and pushed everything off, blankets included, to the opposite side of the bed before he patted the cleaned off area to indicate her to sit down. Rose sat down on his bed, leaning against his headboard and stared towards the entrance. She twisted her fingers together.

He sat down beside her, putting his hands on his knees. He felt so far away. "Are you okay?" he said softly, sensing her mood.

Either because she was feeling vulnerable and sad or because she just needed someone else there, Rose shifted closer to them so they were touching and put her head on his shoulder. He took in a sharp intake of breath and slowly and clumsily wrapped his arm around her.

"Pippa's going to hate me now. I think I might have ruined our friendship for good."

"She has to see sense. . . Nolan isn't a good person."

"No. She doesn't see him the same way we do. I think I leaped past an acceptable boundary with her. I just don't want her to get hurt and finally I did something about it. It might have been a bit drastic."

Scorpius rubbed her shoulder consolingly and reached out with his other hand to grab hers. Her neck started heating up and she kept her gaze downwards, watching his hand run over hers. He had large, comfortable hands. It felt soothing as his fingers went up and down her hand, and then her arm. She had shooting tingles everywhere. Rose just closed her eyes.

"I think you're incredibly brave, Rose."

"I don't think so," she whispered. "I let this get too far. Pippa has been acting abnormal all year and instead of dealing with it, I've ignored it, hoping she'd stop acting out. I'm a horrible friend."

If only she didn't agree with everything Pippa said. No matter how much she joked, or pretended not to like something, Rose had never said no. Why couldn't she have told Pippa that was she was doing was wrong and hurtful for herself? There had to be something she could have done differently. . . Something. Anything.

"Rose, you're a great friend. You actually stood up to her and did the right thing to protect her. It takes a lot of courage. And it's hard. I still haven't done it. . . There will be a time when Pippa will appreciate what you did. It just might not happen for awhile."

Rose sighed. Her legs were stretched out by his and she wanted to wind them together, be as close as possible. She didn't have the nerve for that and so just played at the leg of his trousers with her foot. "I just want everything back the way it was. . . Before we grew up and everything got so complicated."

He squeezed her and Rose stayed in his embrace for a long time. The two sat in silence. Scorpius's breathing gradually slowed down and her blush faded and she felt so right being there.

"I better get going," Rose eventually said. She would fall asleep if she remained there much longer. She lifted her head from his shoulder and moved away from him and his warm embrace. "Thanks."

"I didn't do anything, really," he told her as he stretched and got off the bed too. He rubbed his eyes and looked as if he had been sleeping.

"Yes you did." She started walking away and then felt a tug on her hand that sent her spinning back around -

She was pulled close and Scorpius softly kissed her cheek.

"I'll always be here if you ever need it."

Rose walked out half in a daze with her fingers touching her cheek and a smile on her face that fell off as she reached the common room and looked towards the girls dorm to where Pippa lay, stunned.

Such a bittersweet day.

Nolan took his revenge a few days later.

Rose was meandering around the hallways, her toads hopping somewhere on this floor, or behind her, or outside. Actually they might have just stayed in the library. She wasn't too sure for she wasn't paying attention to anything around her. She was tired and just needed to stretch her legs and neck before she went back to homework.

Because she wasn't paying attention, she didn't hear anyone sneak up behind her. All she registered was that her shirt was lifted away from her neck and before she turned around, something was dropped in. She felt movement from whatever it was, and then it started crawling.

There was one brief moment of clarity as she made the connection between movement and spider, and then she was screaming.

She dropped to the floor and started rolling as her screams got louder and louder. Frantically she pulled her shirt from her skin and was trying to pull it off, no regards for whoever was around her or that she was in the middle of a hallway. She was kicking and rolling and clawing at the shirt, and hair was in her eyes and mouth and caught on a button. She was oblivious to everything.

Her screams turned to panicked sobs and she continued to roll because she didn't know where the spider was and she just hoped it was off of her. Even if it was dead, it needed to get off.

Her shirt eventually came off - but only by her completely ripping the top few buttons off so she could squeeze her head out. She flung it far away and stood up quickly, backing up against the wall. Oh her hair, what if it was in her hair!

Rose was breathing heavy, her chest rising and falling rapidly, and her face was absolutely soaked by tears. The only thing that kept her in her spot was the malicious laughter she heard.

She didn't even register movement, but the next thing she knew was that she was in front of Nolan and her arm was swinging back, just like Pippa taught her a few years ago –

Then she punched him in the face, hard. He was taller than her, but not Scorpius taller than her. Only by the barest amount. He gave a cry of rage and his hands went to his face as he started cursing at her.

"What is your problem!" she cried, ignoring his curses. "Stop being such a pig-headed yak and start acting like a human being! Who cares that you were turned down and I hurt your ginormous fake ego. Who cares that Pippa hates your guts and I was the messenger! Move on!"

Rose stood angrily in front of him, her shirt still lying on the ground by the wall. Her hand was throbbing and her knuckles were throbbing; a few fingers might have dislocated. It was chilly standing in the hallway as her temper cooled down.

"Pippa told about your fear," he said cruelly. "Pippa told Amelia who told me. A great friend she is, right?"

Rose felt her heart crumple. She couldn't believe that. She couldn't. And yet. . . She really didn't want to think of it.

"Don't ever come near me again," she said quietly. She turned on her heels, picked up her shirt, and went to the nearest ladies room to clean up. Her hair was an absolute mess, her face was, her hand, her shirt, and her heart. Only a few of those could be fixed.

When she eventually returned to the library, Al who she was studying with, looked up at her.

"That took awhile," he commented. "Did a few laps around the castle?"

Rose opened and closed her mouth a few times.

"No. You know what Al, I'm sorry, but I'm going to bed. I'm tired."

She didn't offer any other explanation and hid her hurt hand from him.

Rose was by no means surprised that Pippa completely ignored Rose from then on. And even if Pippa would have talked to her, Rose didn't know how she could have said anything to her. She was hurt, and felt betrayed, and that was probably exactly what Pippa reciprocated.

It was the same as when Nolan taunted her at Hogsmeade, Rose didn't tell anyone the newest encounter. She felt like she should handle him on her own.

"I just don't know if I did the right thing," she told her toads when she was lying in bed with the curtains pulled tight around her and a silencing charm on. "About anything. Maybe it's me who's at fault and I overstepped too many boundaries. And by jinxing her." Rose put her hands to head and just groaned.

"It's my fault for everything. Why did I jinx her? Why couldn't I have just told her what I heard and what Nolan did? She would have seen reason. . . Right? I mean, why didn't I go to a Professor? Maybe they would have handled it - or, or maybe not. I just don't know. I think I've just done everything so backwards and wrong and now lost a friend as a result of it. But!" she held up a finger to Matilda, as if scolding her own toad. "She still didn't have to tell about the spiders. Even though we aren't friends at the moment, she didn't have to give up my secret. Isn't that some sort of code that everyone follows – that even if you fall out with a friend, you keep their secrets? If the roles were reversed, I'd keep her secret. It's just. . . Nolan. . . Anyone but him. Anyone but him."

She threw her hands up. "And it's not like she told Nolan. She told Amelia, apparently. Which should make me not as mad at her, but it does. Because that means other people know too. She's a huge gossip. Pippa is killing me right now. . . "

As per usual, her toads stared unblinkingly back, Guacamole's vocal sac going in and out.

"And of course you guys don't answer back. You're toads. And I'm just the crazy toad girl who talks to you." She pushed her toads off of her, rolled over to her stomach and picked up where she left off in her latest playbook, Hippogriffs on Friday by Doneld Wjestin.

Oh woo is you and woo is who and together we can be blue.

Pippa didn't look at her and Aziza, didn't sit by them. Didn't do anything that involved them. If they entered a room she was in, she usually left. She didn't go to many classes she shared with them, and if she did she sat way at the opposite end of the room. She stopped going to Quidditch games and sat at her own table for meals.

That caused quite a stir in the school for Rose was still a Weasley, even if not right up there in the social radar. Pippa started hanging with the Seventh Years in the school and was skipping classes, drinking more often, and talking back to prefects and teachers all the time now. Another reason they didn't see much of her was because she was in detentions or disciplinary meetings most of the time. She didn't go near Nolan though, and he stayed away from her, believing what Rose said. Rose tried to tell herself that was enough.

But it really wasn't. She missed Pippa.

~xx~

Literature referenced, roman numerals are (act, scene, line):

Hippogriffs on Friday, (V. III. XV) (1992) - Doneld Wjestin