Hey people:D Ok, I guess I owe you all an apology. I haven't updated in months. And apology number two for this chapter- it's quite short. And apology number three- my writing has definitely gone a bit rusty, as you can see -nervous laugh- I promise to update more frequently aaand I better stop with my rambling.

Hey Cori,
How's your holidays going? My one is pretty boring. I've been on my broomstick a lot, trying to test out some of my new skills. Albus is staying over at Rebecca's house for a bit- no surprises there!
I miss him a lot, Well, him and his stupid questions. So what have you been up to lately? Anything interesting? Look, I'm so sorry about everything but-

Rose scrunched up the letter for the sixth time that day. She was sick of this. Her attamepts at reconciliation with Scorpious was putting her on the end of her tether. Why did she keep having to put the word 'broomstick' into evey bloody letter? It was making her sound like a Quidditch- crazed good for nothing person.
And why was she switching her tone from casual to emotional? Scopious hated that kind of thing. He just liked to the point letters. Rose groaned and banged her head on the table. Maybe she should just start off formal? Cori, I just miss you. Please be my friend?
God, no. That would be reputation suicide.

"Rose? Honey, are you coming down?" called out Hermione from the bottom of the stairs.

"Er...I'm a bit busy right now, mum," said Rose, grabbing the scrunched up piece of paper and chucking it into the nearby bin.

"Are you sure you're okay? You haven't been down all morning."

"I'm fine mum. Just cataching up on some schoolwork." Rose snorted under her breath. Schoolwork was the last thing on her mind.

"That's fine. Have you packed your bags?"

"Yeah, everything's packed and ready to go," said Rose, annoyed by the sarcastic note coming from her own voice. She heard her mother's footsteps walk away and then turned back to survey her stack of parchment. Maybe she should just skip the mail. Talking face to face was always better. Wasn't it? Maybe it wasn't good for her. She could already have a vision of what was to happen. Scorpious looking at her, eyebrows raised while she nervously bit her lip, face bright red, struggling to get the words out, only saying something else that was ridiculous. She'd probably end up asking him if he'd like a cup of tea in which the ending result would be Scorpious's eyebrows' travelling further up and her storming away from his view, gabbling gibberish and ending up slamming her head against another table,courtesy of her slowness in dealing with such situations.

She hated herself for it. She hated herself for everything. Yet she really couldn't understand what she had done wrong. What was she apologising for? Was she going to stop in mid- sentence, pondering upon this thought while apologising? Rose winced. Maybe she should just forget about the apology.

Oh god. All she knew was that things weren't the same.

She wanted to laugh again when Scorpious insulted Albus- yet there were no hard feelings. She wanted to smile, looking back at the memories of the years they had gone through in Hogwarts.

She wanted Scorpious back. And she couldn't believe it had taken her this long to realise but...she loved him. And she'll be damned if she was the one that had put the stop to their friendship. She was going to put it right even if it was the last thing she did.

"But I still can't believe you didn't get the prefect badge!" said Rebecca, open- mouthed as the train trudged on past grassy hills. Rebecca had got the badge for Ravenclaw, but for some reason, Rose didn't envy her. Rose shrugged.

"To tell you the truth, I didn't really want it. Too much responsibilty. I have other things on my mind right now."

"Like what?" asked Albus. Rose didn't answer but out of the corner of her eye she saw Rebecca giving her a knowing look.

"Oh, have you seen Cori anywhere?" asked Rose, sitting up. Albus and Rebecca looked awkwardly at each other.

"What?" asked Rose, instantly getting the feeling they were hiding something from her.

"Well...it's just..." started Rebecca.

"Yes...?" prodded Rose, getting the feeling she wasn't going to like this.

"Well...er...he's hanging out with the Slytherins," said Albus.

"Oh." said Rose, sitting back. She felt like she'd just been punched in the stomach. Scorpious picked the Slytherins over them? Those conniving, evil, vicious cows? Hell, he didn't even like them. What was he thinking?

"And, er...there's something else," said Rebecca, looking edgy. Albus shot her a warning look.

"What?" asked Rose suspiciously.

"It's nothing...that important...just that.."

"What is it?" snapped Rose.

"He's dating a Slytherin," said Rebecca in one breath. Albus groaned and put his head in his hands. Rose was half annoyed at Albus for keeping this from her and half shocked.

"W-What?" asked Rose faintly.

"Er...yeah," said Rebecca, looking down. "Sorry I had to tell you that." Rose looked at her for a long time. So here she was, ready to talk to Scorpious, sort things out, but then he went to hang out with the Slytherins' and bang some-

"Who is she? What house is she in?" demanded Rose.

"Er...we don't know who she is exactly but...she's in Slytherin," said Albus warily. Rose swore under her breath. Scorpious hated the Slytherins more than all of them put together. Surely he wouldn't go this far.

"I'm so sorry, Rose," said Rebecca, watching her expressions. Rose rasied an eyebrow.

"You think I care? I don't care what he does anymore, that's his business." She sat back in her chair and closed her eyes'. Maybe that way she could prevent the tears from forcing their way out. She could almost hear Albus and Rebecca exchanging worried glances. She could hear the distant rumbling coming from the train as it sped along its tracks.

Focus on something else, something else, she told herself.

Maybe it will ease the pain. She could almost hear Albus yelling in her ear to stop being such a drama queen. Her eyes' snapped open. She sat up again and cleared her throat.

"I think I might require some chocolate," she said.

"Well, I guess chocolate always helps when you're feeling depressed," said Albus slowly.

"I'm more in a celebrating mood, actually," she said, plastering a smile onto her face.

"What's there to celebrate?" asked Rebecca, looking confused.

"Returning to Hogwarts?" suggested Rose.

Yeah right.