AN - Quick trigger warning, for drinking and other issues... This story is rated M for a reason. So definitely beware when reading, and I'm sorry if the subject matter is upsetting for anyone.

Rose paused, staring at the letter in her hand. It had been a week since she received the short note, and she still didn't understand what it meant. She wondered if there had been something in her most recent letter that had upset him. There was a knock and the door and she quickly tucked the letter under some books on her desk.

"Rose honey, you're father and I are just heading out. Come down and say goodbye." Hermoine's voice came through the door and Rose sighed. A few hours and she would see Scorpius; ask him what in Merlin's name he had meant by 'sensible'.

"Take care of your sister, Hugo," Rose heard her father's voice as she walked into the living room.

"I don't think I'll need taking care of, Dad." Rose patted her brother's head, quite a feat considering he was nearly 10 centimeters taller than her.

"Well if you both look out for each other I'm sure everything will be fine." Hermione smiled as she picked up a handful of floo powder, "We'll be back on Monday. Try not to destroy the house while we're gone?"

Hugo smiled deviously as Ron followed Hermione through the green flames to the small cottage where they would spend the next two nights.

Rose looked at the clock on the wall, two hours until they left for the Potter's house. For once she wished she were the type of girl who could spend that long getting ready. At least then she would have something to do rather than sit around with her stomach in knots about seeing Scorpius.

An hour and a half of making Hugo entertain her and a half hour of looking through her piles of clothes for the shirt she wanted, Rose and Hugo left the house.

The end of summer party had been tradition since before James' 6th year. Their parents knew what happened for the most part, but everyone was old enough to stretch the truth a little bit so the shots of fire whiskey were generally omitted.

They arrived just before everyone else, giving Hugo a chance to catch up with Lily before the noise level increased. Rose smiled at their timing, hoping she would have a chance to talk to Albus before Scorpius arrived. But as she made her way through the gaggle of red and black haired cousins, she saw the blond head standing out like a beacon.

Rose tried to back away but Albus had already caught sight of her and gestured her over, into a friendly hug. Scorpius stood stalk still even as Rose smiled worriedly up at him.

"I'll grab some butter beers to start us off then," Albus moved quickly away from the obvious tension.

"So-"

"We-" Scorpius started just as Rose opened her mouth to ask him about his final letter.

"You first," he tried to force a smile, but his cheeks were too worried about Rose to respond.

"Your last letter," she blurted out, "what was that about? Do I not usually 'act sensibly'?"

Scorpius gritted his teeth, bracing himself; at least she had given him an opening, "That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about." He paused, unsure of how to continue. He fiddled with the letter Nick had sent him, tucked safely into his trouser pocket, but even he shied away from showing Rose the harsh words.

"Nick isn't interested in you." Rose's expression of shock followed by hurt made him realize how badly that had come out. "Wait- I didn't mean it like that. I just mean he's interested in your body more than your personality."

Rose's bit down on her lip, clearing her head enough to ensure that her face revealed nothing. "Why would you say that? Nick has been nothing but supportive of me this summer, and so what if he likes my body. I take that as a compliment."

Scorpius frowned, Rose didn't seem to realize how dire the situation was. "He just wants to shag you Rose."

Rose felt her throat block slightly and her eyes felt itchy. How dare Scorpius say that to her, it was as if she didn't have a personality. "So what? Most guys want to shag. What does this have to do with the letter you sent anyway?" she spoke tersely, her lips pursed in an attempt to remain in control of her face.

"He warned me away. He doesn't care about you Rose." Scorpius was desperate, Nick would arrive any second and then Rose would be inaccessible.

"I'm going to go help Albus with those drinks." She turned her back before a tear could leak out. She had the strong urge to slap Scorpius for what he was saying. Nick had spent time with her all summer, swimming and talking and playing quidditch. She didn't need Scorpius taking care of her. Scorpius who had snogged her, insulted her, sent her a few letters and then gone back to being short with her. He had no place interfering.

As they talked more people had arrived. It was only close friends, but with 12 cousins the number grew quickly so Rose had to push past a few people to find Albus. She downed the butter beer he was holding and continued into the kitchen for a shot of fire whiskey.

By the time Nick found her half an hour later she was on the 4th shot and feeling light headed. Nick wrapped an arm around her waist, pulled her in close for a deep kiss. Rose remembered absent mindedly that she hadn't eaten dinner as she turned around for another shot. So what if Nick wanted to shag, he had never really pushed her on the subject, and it wasn't like Scorpius wanted to sleep with her.

Rose stumbled slightly as she turned towards Nick again, and the arm that wasn't holding his beer wrapped around her. She smiled up at him, her hand twirling the hair at the nape of his neck. They made their way around the house, stopping every few minutes to talk to someone.

Carmen ran towards them, nearly knocking Rose over in a hug. "Rose we have so much to talk about! When we get a minute alone I mean," she eyed Nick appreciatively, giving Rose a nod. "But have you seen Liam? I only got two letters from him all summer and I've promised to kill him."

"I'm sure you're wearing exactly what he imagined," Rose glanced at the shorts and loose tank top her friend was wearing to show off her even more tanned skin. "But don't worry, I don't think he met anyone."

"Why would I worry about that?" Carmen blushed.

"He's over there," Rose smirked, gesturing across the room to where she had last seen Liam.

Rose took a gulp of Nick's beer as she watched Carmen walk quickly across the room. She laughed at the look of shock on Liam's face when Carmen grabbed his arm and spun him around, pointing her finger at him accusingly.

"He's a lucky man." Nick moved around to stand right in front of Rose, removing the beer from her hands and setting it down on the coffee table. He moved his hand to her face, angling it upwards to he could lean down and press his beer tasting lips fervently against hers.

Rose stepped back slightly, regaining some of her personal space in the room filled with people. She lifted her hair off her neck, trying to reduce how warm she felt.

"Maybe we should step outside for a bit," Nick grinned at Rose's flushed face, "Get away from the heat."

Rose nodded, taking Nick's hand and following him outside. They walked through the grass in the backyard, away from the lights of the party and towards the trees. The stars seemed to be shining more brightly than usual and Rose knew she was tipsy. She wasn't tipsy enough to be tripping, but the tree root threw her off balance anyway and she fell into Nick's back before steadying herself.

Nick stopped. "Maybe we should sit down for a few minutes."

Rose settled herself onto the ground beside him. "So, summer's almost over, how're you feeling about school coming up? Ready for the final year?" She teased slightly, but Nick ran his hand through his hair in exasperation and lay back on the ground.

"School's still a week and away, we don't need to think about that yet." He glanced over at her, as she lay down, propped on her elbow so she could still see him properly.

Rose bit back her response that is was only 4 days away, which was less than a week. As she nibbled on her lip to keep from speaking Nick's eyes flickered downwards. She placed a soft kiss on his lips before lying down fully on her back, gazing up at the stars.

Less than a second later, her view of the sky was obscured as Nick rolled over, settling his knee between her legs and using his elbows to keep him above her. One hand grabbed the back of Rose's neck and pulled her head up towards him.

He pressed his lips hard against hers, pushing his tongue forward to demand entrance. Rose tried to settle into a comfortable position, but a root was just above her head. Nick moved down to her neck and Rose took the opportunity to speak up.

"Can we move down?"

Nick smiled smugly, allowing Rose to move down slightly before resuming his kisses, which were traveling in the same direction. He reached the top of her shirt, and began pulling it up from her waist, not pausing. Rose squirmed slightly, and he grinned up at her before moving back up to her neck and biting slightly.

"You like that?" He muttered in her ear as his hand moved confidently back down her bare side, fiddling with the waistband of her jeans.

"Wait," Rose spoke against his lips, and he removed the hand that had moved to rest on her chest. His touch was hot against her skin as he moved slowly inwards towards the centre of her jeans. His breathing was heavy as he removed his tongue from her mouth momentarily before thrusting it back in.

Then his hand was gone from her stomach and Rose relaxed, settling into the way he bit her lip and stole her breath. The stars are so pretty like this, she thought dazedly. But then she felt a slight breeze on her thigh and her jeans were much lower than they should have been. He pressed himself against her, and it was clear that only his boxers now separated him from the soft skin of her leg. "Come on, Rose." His hand moved to her underwear and a place she definitely didn't want him to go. He ground against her, and she gasped in shock, trying to move her arms to push at his chest.

AN - To be continued...

Soon!

Yes you read that right! I've finished the next two chapters already! And over winter break (5 whole weeks now that I'm in the magical land of university!) I will write like mad to finish this story for you guys! That means that we can all expect a chapter every week or so until the end of this story! If you can't tell by all the exclamation marks, I'm pretty excited about that...

Anyway, hearing your feedback at this stage will be absolutely crucial in encouraging me to write over the break - and it's a chance to let me know what you think, what you want to happen etc (especially after the next few chapters). So yeah, let me know all your opinions, good, bad, and random... For example what type of ice cream you all like?

Sorry for the overly long/cheery AN after a serious story. But thanks for taking the time to read this all!

- FTLOS