A/N: Sorry for taking so long to update! I got a bit busy and this chapter is quite a bit longer. Do enjoy please :) and remember that reviews, follows, and favorites are always appreciated. Also, thank you so much to all of you (200+ people!) who have taken the time to read my story :)

Chapter 3

Flights, Fights, and Fear or Falling (out)

The rest of the week goes fine, despite the lack of time for the further exploration of the Wardrobe Room. Rose likes her teachers. By Friday morning, the only two she hasn't met are Firenze, the Astronomy teacher, and Master Wood, the flying instructor. Honestly, she isn't quite keen on meeting the later. Well, it's not that she doesn't want to meet him; he seems nice. She just doesn't want to take his class. No flying. Anything but flying, she thinks as she stares at her chocolate chip muffin.

"Why haven't you eaten anything Rose?" Scorpius looks at her with concern. "Blimey, you haven't even touched the pastries. And you love pastries. Why do you look sick?"

"She's terrified." Al answers in his cousin's place as she looks like she may throw up.

"Ever since she fell of one of Uncle Charlie's dragons when she was five, she's been terrified of flying." he continues, so quietly that only Scorpius can hear him, "I think she can still remember the accident. I mean she nearly died."

Scorpius nods in understanding. That's why Rose looks so off. Today will be the first flying lesson of the year.

"Does she have to go? I mean, she went through a traumatic experience, isn't that a good enough excuse? She could get sick from fright." Scorpius whispers to Al, carefully watching the girl in front of him pick at her breakfast.

"You know I see you guys whispering right infront of me. And I'm fairly certain I know exactly what you're talking about." Rose says evenly before Al can respond.

Scorpius looks slightly embarrassed. "Why don't you read the Prophet, get your mind of things?" he asks handing her a copy of the newspaper.

Rose takes it without a word. She notices that Al and Scorpius are still whispering about her, but when she's sees the headline of the article, she knows there's more to worry about.

"Someone's broken into the ministry." The girl says as soon as she finishes reading the article.

The boys look up. Albus speaks first, "But, th-that's impossible. You can't break into the ministry of magic. It's got all that security."

"Who would want to break into the ministry? When? Why? How? Rose what happened?" Scorpius speaks next, brimming with curiosity and concern that seems beyond his mere eleven years.

Rose answers so quickly her words seem to rush together, "Three separate attacks one at exactly ten targeting the Department of Research the next at eleven targeting the Department of M-ma-," she takes a breath, "Magical Law Enforcement. Then the last one at midnight, targeting the Department of Mysteries. We don't know exactly what they took but we know they took something, probably somethings. And anyone who witnessed anything has been obliviated."

If Rose looked distraught before, she looks absolutely terrified now, "Al, your dad. My parents. They were probably still working."

She looks near tears.

"Rose, if they were, then the worst that's happened to them is that they've had select memories erased. They're fine." Albus assures her confidently.

Scorpius nods. He maintains his posture, though it's obvious the news has shocked him. There hasn't been any sort of attack reported in nineteen years.

"Rose, breath, look the owls are coming. I bet your parents wrote to you." He adds, looking up, in search of his own owl. He comes with a letter dated a few days ago and a parcel of sweets.

Darcy doesn't come though. Neither does Al's owl, Vega. The fact that they haven't heard any news, worries Rose more than she lets on. It's a bad omen, news of an attack on the day of her dreaded flying lesson. However, she thinks as she takes a big bite out her muffin, Rose Weasley doesn't believe in omens. And despite being a Ravenclaw, Rose Weasley does not get scared. Not even of flying.

She looks at the flurry of owls in the hall. How animals with such thin wings can manage to soar through the air? She can't help but admire their carefree lifestyle. She can't help but worry for them. A life of freedom is a life of danger. Flying through the air like that could get them hurt. They could crash into something they could fall. They could die. Even after she finishes breakfast, she can't seem to decide if the owls are foolish or brave.

*.*.*.*

After Charms, Xavier approaches Rose, asking her to tutor him. Though she would never tell him, Rose is not at all surprised he's asking for help. For someone who seems to be good at charming people, he is absolutely awful at the subject of Charms. He has yet to master the Levitation spell, which means he's in danger of falling behind, as they were going to start notes on the Wand-Lighting Charm on Monday. Rose agrees to meet him at precisely eight o'clock in the library.

On Friday, Charms is her fourth class. She's absolutely terrified of her fifth. She considers skipping even. Imagine that. Rose Weasley skipping a class. Her mum would kill her. And this is a class she has with Scorpius and Al, so she doesn't really want to miss it. At least, that's what she tells herself as she makes her way to the Quidditch pitch.

She spots Scorpius and Al on the way. They seem to always be together. They're like long lost brothers or something. The two boys regard her awkwardly, neither of them quite sure exactly what to say to reassure her that it'll be okay. She's fine with their silence, though; she doesn't need them to tell her it'll be okay, because she already knows it will. Right?

*.*.*.*

Oliver Wood is a retired quidditch player. He had an accident a few years back that forced him to give up the sport. Soon after, he decided that if he couldn't do what he loved, he'd teach others to enjoy it the way he did. Rose knows she's heard of him somewhere other than a newspaper, though. He seems familiar in some sort of way. Oh right! Dominque's boyfriend—Davy. He's Davy's dad.

"Right, Ravenclaws on the right. Gryffindors on the left." He says motioning to the two rows of brooms, "Pick a broomstick. Don't do anything to it, just stand by it."

The Ravenclaws and Gryffindors hurry to their places, "Okay, now stick your writing hand over the broom and yell UP loudly and clearly."

Rose hesitates. Her broom looks old, and so small.

How can it withstand my weight, what if it breaks down while I'm in the air, she thinks eyeng the broom.

"U-u-up." She says tentatively.

The broom doesn't budge. She looks around. Across from her, Al and Scorpius have gotten their brooms on the first try.

"Come on now. Say it like you mean it. You have to want the broom to come up. You can't be afraid. " Master Wood continues.

Rose is not going to let a piece of wood get the better of her. With more deliberation, she yells, "UP!"

This time she gets it. They wait a moment for everyone to get their brooms then Master Wood continues, "Now I want you all to mount."

He shows them the proper way. Then gives the example of how to grip it right. When they've all mounted he makes them wait till the count of three to kick up.

At the blow of his whistle, they kick. Rose is absolutely terrified, I'm going to fall, I'm certain of it. She can't bear the feeling of being up in the air. Her breaths are so heavy, and she can't hear Master Wood explain how to maneuver the broom over the blood rushing to her head and the "thump-thump-thump" of her heart. Everyone around her starts to move around. Rose can't bear to do anything. She wants to go down. She wants to be back on the ground. She can't even summon up her voice. She can't call out to Master Wood for help. She's so scared that the littlest thing will make her plummet. She doesn't want to fall to her death.

"Rose. Are you okay?" Scorpius asks, flying toward her.

"F-f-fall." She breaths heavily. Inhale. Exhale.

"You're not going to fall." Scorpius says calmly.

Rose looks down and immediately panic wells up in her chest. She's going to fall. She's going to fall.

"Rose don't look down." Scorpius commands, "Look at me instead."

She looks up at him, slowly. His eyes are rather pretty. All grey.

"Good." Scorpius continues to say calmly, "Breath Rose. You're fine."

She takes a deep breath, still staring into his eyes.

"You are not going to fall." He repeats slowly.

She nods, still heaving.

"And if you did. I'd catch you." He adds, blushing ever so slightly.

She manages another nod.

"Can you try to move forward?"

She shakes her head vehemently.

"Come on Weasley. You may be a Ravenclaw, but you're braver than this." He prods.

She grips her broom even tighter. Then, with a leap of faith, she leans forward slightly.

She's moving. But it's terrifying. She closes her eyes tight.

All she can think is: I'm going to fall. I'm going to fall. I'm going to fall. She realizes too late that she never stopped leaning forward. She's still moving.

"AHHHHHHH!" she screams. Her whole body is trembling. Master Wood rushes toward her, but it's taking him some time as he's nowhere near her current location.

Scorpius follows behind her as fast as he can, "Rose, slow down!"

But she can't slow down. She can feel that she's only speeding up. She starts to wobble. She's spinning in circles. It's the feeling. The feeling of falling she hasn't been able to shake since she was five. Her trembling's getting worse, she's downright shaking now.

Then it stops. Someone—Master Wood?— has grabbed her by the shoulders. But she's she's so scared she struggles. And with the the struggle she lets go of the broom. And she's falling. She crashes through leaves and branches and she's certain she's going to die.

Then it stops again, "You know, for someone so small you're not exactly as light as a feather."

Someone—she dares to open her eyes—Scorpius—has caught her. Master Wood takes her from him and brings her back to the ground. But as soon as her feet touch the ground she falls back. Everything fades to black.

*.*.*.*

She wakes up with a start. Where am I? she thinks, rubbing her eyes.

"Am I dead?" she asks absent mindedly.

Madame Longbottom laughs, "Not yet, Rosie. You simply fainted. And, you've only been out for a few hours."

Rose breathes a sigh of relief.

"However," the nurse continues, "I recommend, if not insist, you stop attending Flying Lessons. According to Al—you've experienced trauma with flying, and from what I can tell you being in the air induces what we call a panic attack. You are not in any real danger, but the sensations are familiar from previous trauma which instigates a deep irrational fear along with a multitude of side effects. Any sort of panic attack is dangerous and unhealthy physiologically, but your case is worse as you could potentially get very hurt because of it. In fact, if it wasn't for the young man that caught you, I'm certain you would have broken your neck."

Rose nods, "Speaking of my brother and Scorpius, where are they?"

She looks around, but the entire room is empty except for Madame Longbottom and herself.

"They're waiting outside. I promised to let them in when you woke." She answers coming toward the door.

Instantly the two boys rush to her bedside.
"Are you alright? Have you been hurt? Please tell me you don't have to try to fly again. Exactly what happened?" they ask in a rush.

Madame Longbottom forces them to calm down and explains the situation. She suggests that Rose continue to rest for a while more, but with the sudden growl of her stomach, the girl decides to make her way to dinner.

The trio's arrival is met with a flurry of whispers from all of the tables. Apparently, everyone has heard of Rose's accident. Thankfully, no one is rude enough to actually approach Rose about it. She can feel their stares on her back, though as she piles food onto her plate.

After dinner, as planned, Rose makes her way to the library for her tutoring session with Xavier. He doesn't ask about the accident either, and for that Rose is grateful. Within an hour, Rose has corrected Xavier pronunciation of Leviosa exactly thirty times, and has fixed his grip on the wand. Finally though, he manages to get the little feather they'd been practicing on to float. He's absolutely ecstatic about this and will not stop thanking her.

"It's really no problem," she says again, gathering her books.

"No, my pronunciation was a problem. A big problem. But you solved it." He laughs.

Then in a more serious tone he asks, "Okay, so, what is it with all the girls staring at me,"

He nods over to a group of giggly girls that have been sneaking glances at him throughout the day, "They've been fricking following me."

Rose bursts out laughing, "I think you have a fan club."

"But I haven't done anything."

"You've mastered the Levitation Spell if that counts." She remarks, getting up, "Good luck with them Pretty Boy, and tell me if you need anymore help."

She leaves a dumbfounded American looking at his "fan club" in confusion.

*.*.*.*

By the midnight Astronomy lesson, Rose has completely recovered from the Flying Lesson. Astronomy is exceedingly interesting. The planets and the stars, the significance of their alignment, the subject is simply fascinating, and beautiful. Professor Firenze is also quite nice and sitting in the cozy Astronomy Tower listening to him lecture about the sky leaves Rose feeling quite happy.

*.*.*.*

Rose sleeps in till ten the next morning, and apparently she's not the only one. Everyone it seems were left feeling knackered after the midnight lesson. Luckily, Breakfast has been exteneded till noon that day, so anyone who's overslept is guaranteed their morning meal.

Rose pays close attention to the prophet, but nothing has been reported about what has happened in the ministry, there's a comment saying that the ministry would not disclose anymore information. It's puzzling. Never once in her eleven years has Rose heard of the Prophet not printing something even the ministry disapproved of. But then again, never once has the Prophet had a topic like this in Rose's eleven years.

The trio are able to sneak off to the Attic promptly after breakfast. The don't even try to look at anything in the little room but the wardrobe. The Wardrobe Room has gone unchanged since they'd first entered. However, they discover that it is much larger than they had initially thought. There's a door behind one of the tapestries that leads to a corridor. The corridor is nice and well lit, but also covered with doors. Each door is labeled. Mystery Room. Helga's Room. The Forgotten Room. The Room of Requirement.

The one labeled Room of Requirement startles them all. They'd all though that it was located somewhere else, and there were stories about how it'd burned. Rose postulates that either the Room had moved since the Battle of Hogwarts, or it has two entrances. They look through each room, one by one, till they come across The Study Room.

Rose, having made the boys bring their unfinished homework along, force them to finish it all there. It's the most amazing study ever. Scorpius reckons it was made by Rowena herself. There are a few rows of desks of every possible design. There's a cabinet that's full of an everlasting amount of ink and parchment, and Rose's favourite, a single bookshelf that seems to be able to read minds. You think of a topic you need to research and the shelf fills up with the most useful books on the topic. Thanks to this lovely room they finish their homework—even the two whole essays Hawthorne assigned—before lunch.

On their way out they notice The Dining Room and decide to give it a go. The Room seems to know what they want. The room appears to be a casual café, however there is only one round table set with three sets of plates, glasses, and silverware. They are deeply perplexed by this. Rose and Scorpius begin arguing over how the room must work, they are interrupted by the growl of Al's stomach. Which of course they ignore.

"You know what I want right now? I want some of Nana's roast chicken. You know the kind she makes specially for Christmas. With the creamy mashed potatoes and that magical gravy." Al says his mouth watering at the idea of his favourite meal.

Then lo and behold, it appears on his plate. At first Al is sure he's hallucinating.

"Guys?" He looks at his arguing friends, who have now gotten up from the table and begun to examine the room.

He picks up his spoon at tries a the mashed potatoes. To his surprise they taste exactly like Nana's and he's sure their Nana's because Nana is the only one who can make that gravy.

"Guys you can stop arguing, I figured out how it works!" he yells excitedly.

His friends turn around, astonished at the sight. Albus patiently explains how he just wished for it and it appeared. Rose and Scorpius attempt to find a way to explain how it could work. According to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration, well according the first of it's five exceptions, food cannot simply appear out of nowhere. They begin to discuss this, but with hunger gnawing at their stomachs they decide to have some of the "impossible food" first. Rose orders her father's chicken soup (the only food he knows how to make) and a vanilla milkshake with a scoop of ice cream and a side of chips. Scorpius, strangely enough, orders a peanut butter and banana sandwich and a butterbeer.

"Out of all the things in the world you pick a peanut butter and banana sandwich?" Rose asks incredulously as she dips a chip into the ice cream part of her milkshake.

"You're the one putting chips in ice cream," he retorts.

They come up with a number of theories on how the room works, deciding that it probably summons a replication of it from a point in time and space.

"Do you reckon we could summon stuff and take it out of the room?" Al asks.

Rose tells him to try. He goes for something simple, a chocolate frog. He's able to take it away from the table, however, as soon as he steps in the doorframe it vanishes. He seems forlorn with this discovery. Rose thinks that he was probably thinking he could start selling it or store it up for a sort of midnight snack.

After lunch the wander into the Clock Room where Rose realizes that Al and her are nearly late for tea with Hagrid.

"Oh, uh, well, go along then, I had something to do anyway…" Scorpius trails off.

Rose laughs, "Well you can do them later, because you are joining us for tea."

*.*.*.*

Hagrid's initial reaction to Scorpius: "Get out of my house you dirty Malfoy! And stop harassing these kids!"

Scorpius looks absolutely terrified, Rose sighs, "Hagrid, he's a friend, a very nice one at that, in fact he saved my neck yesterday, literally."

Hagrid's scowl turns to a forced smile of sorts, "Well then, er would yer like to come in Scorpio?"

Al, who's already made himself comfortable at Hagrid's table corrects him automatically, "It's Scorpius, and I'm sure he'd love to."

Rose has to push the boy in the hut and even then the terrified expression ceases to leave his face. He doesn't say anything for the entirety of their time in Hagrid's cozy home, but it goes unnoticed as Rose speaks enough for all four of them, describing all of her classes in detail.

"Oh and you should have seen Professor Suzuki when that Gryffindor bloke practically asked her out. She looked like she was going to slap him, but she managed to stay calm. Can you believe she's only nineteen. I think she has students her own age! But you know she's so smart and really rather clever. I wonder why she left Japan though. She seems so lonely here. I mean she it doesn't look like she's got many friends. I haven't seen her once say anything to a member of the staff during meals. Do you have any idea Hagrid?" she finally asks stopping for a breath.

Hagrid laughs then appears to grow solemn, "There are rumors. On'y rumors, dunno if they're true, but they say that 'er family was tryin' to marry 'er off. Heard from someone she ran away. But I dunno know much about the professor or wha' happened to 'er, it's er firs' year at Hogwarts."

Then he turns to Scorpius, "Wan' some more tea?"

Scorpius manages a nod. The tea isn't exactly good, but he doesn't want to be rude.

"So yer saved 'er neck? Wha' happened?" He asks Scorpius keenly.

"Uh, well," he stammers, "We had a flying lesson, and Rose had a panic attack. She fell off her broom and I caught her. Nothing special though, Master Wood would could have done it."

"Well he didn', did he? Yer did good Malfoy." Hagrid grunts then turns to Al who's begun to discuss quidditch try outs.

"I heard James mention it. He said that they're trying to replace the seeker they lost as quickly as possible. So try outs are going to be held within weeks. James is upset that he's still going to be stuck as a reserve beater, but guess what? I play seeker. I could make the team." He's boyishly excited at this possibility.

"I'm sure yer will. Yer dad made the team his firs' year, and if yer got 'is flying skills along with 'is looks, yer gonna be fine." Hagrid says warmly. He drinks his cup of tea. There was a time when he'd have ale, but with the Hermione's nagging finally getting to him, he switched permanently to tea.

"Speaking of Al's dad," Rose adds, "Well really our family, have you heard about what happened that the ministry, Hagrid?"

"The break in yer mean?" he prompts.

"Yes."

"'course I have. And don't yer worry one bit, Rose, yer parents are fine. I'm sure of it." He laughs, "If anyone can take care of 'emselves, yer parents can. They're brilliant people. But they're more than just that. They're good people who've done great things. And know a thing or two about defense spells."

Rose smiles. Hagrid, with his simple words, described her parents in a way that people never seem to be able to do. Like real people. Most people could tell you that they were heroes, that they were the strongest and smartest. But most people couldn't talk about her parents without going overboard. Without speaking in awe of them. Roses asks Hagrid to tell them about her parents. Just a story. He complies with the story of them helping him with his pet dragon Norbert (who turned out to be a Norberta). It's a nice story, one that isn't in the textbooks, and one that makes her feel more connected to her parents than she's felt in years.

When he finishes he glances at the clock, "Blimey is it that late already? We've gotta get ter dinner."

With the gamekeeper escorting them, the trio make their way back to the Great Hall.

*.*.*.*

When everyone's had their fill of the rich Hogwarts cooking, Headmaster Fallens makes an announcement, "In the spirit of interhouse unity, which you all know is very important here at Hogwarts, we will be replacing the long tables of each house with an abundance of circular ones—"

The entire hall erupts into whispers. There are people voicing discontent, people celebrating, and people who are simply confounded by the idea.

"Silence," The Headmaster calls, "This change will be made by tomorrow morning, however the long tables will still be used for feasts. Anyone with a complaint about this change can come visit me at my office tomorrow."

Rose takes one look at the Slytherin table. The older students there look outraged and Rose is certain that they will be paying the Headmaster a visit tonight.

Rose is actually interested at the idea of smaller tables. It would make it easier to converse with people privately. And it would actually be a better use of space. She mentally congratulates whomever came up with the idea.

After the announcement their trio returns to the Wardrobe Room. They visit the Happy Room which greets them with a hefty dosage of pepperup potion. Then they discover the Sun Room, which instead of being a room to look the sun is a blindingly bright yellow room that baths them in yellow light and doesn't really do much. Lastly, for that particular night anyway, the make their way inside the Upside Down Room which lets them walk on the ceiling and leaves them feeling rather queasy when they leave. Rose has decided that the corridor is a sort of magic in itself as it seems that no matter how far they along they go, the door back to the sitting room is always three doors down. It's truly remarkable. But Rose just doesn't understand it. What is the purpose of the room? Did it belong to the Founders? If it did, then how could they find it? Why did it seem like no one had found it in centuries, yet also like they weren't the only ones who knew about it? How did Scorpius figure out the combination? How did they find it? Were they meant to? How does it work? Why does it work?

Somehow, they manage to get to bed before curfew but it takes hours for Rose to fall asleep. Her mind is whirring with theories on the rooms, on the wardrobes magic, and on the Ministry break-in.

*.*.*.*

Be it a good thing or a bad thing, she finds herself not thinking about those things much in the next few weeks. Her worries about her parents end however, when she gets a rushed letter explaining that they are completely fine, but extremely busy. Relieved, she finds herself absorbed by her studies. It's not that what they're learning is so interesting, but rather what they're not learning. She studies stuff outside of the normal classwork. The Study Room makes it very simple answering her questions with an endless supply of books. Then there's the second distraction: quiddtich. While she, personally, doesn't like the sport, her cousin and best mate seem to be completely and utterly obsessed. They both want the spot of Gryffindor Seeker so badly. They practice together every single chance they get, and guess who has to tag along. Rose. She spends hours with them at the quiddtich pitch, sometime watching, sometimes reading, and always wishing they hadn't lifted the ban on first year students riding brooms.

She doesn't exactly have to wait long for tryouts; they occur the Saturday of the third week of September. Instead of sleeping in to get the nine hours of sleep her eleven year old body requires, Rose drags herself out of bed and to the quidditch pitch by seven o'clock. At first the captain seems hesitant to let her watch, seeing that she is a Ravenclaw. However, a few words from Dom and there are no more complaints.

The tryouts are simple. There are split into four groups by their year. Each group is led by one of the senior team members. The senior members throw muggle golf balls that have been enchanted to fly at their group. The goal is to catch the most golf balls. The team is able to narrow it down to ten possible team members from the original forty people interested. Scorpius and Al both make the cut. Then, with the captain monitoring, these ten practice with a real snitch. Whoever catches it the most frequently gets the spot. Rose keeps track of the snitches Al and Scorpius catch. They are obviously the best of the group, but they're not exactly evenly matched. They may have the same amount of natural talent, but Scorpius has the best technique and seems to be able to find the location of the snitch just a millisecond before Al can. By the end of the practice rounds Rose knows that the obvious choice is Scorpius and based on the look on Al's face, she figures he knows it too.

The team goes off to deliberate on the far end of the field. Though Rose can barely see them she knows she can see someone waving hands and they must be screaming at each other because the hum of their conversation can be heard a mile away. Finally, Dominique storms off.

The captain announces that Al gets the spot. Rose is shocked. Scorpius looks crushed. And Al, well it seems like Albus Severus Potter has had Christmas come early this year. But then it all stops. Davy Wood drags the captain away and after what looks like half an hour of arguing the captain says that they've decided to give Scorpius the spot on the team and make Al his reserve.

Obviously, the rest of the day isn't exactly a walk in the park. Al refuses to talk to anyone who thinks that Scorpius deserved the spot on the team and unfortunately that's everyone that could knock some sense into him.

Including Rose. After the nasty glares the two receive at breakfast, Rose decides that it would be a good idea if they went out by the lake.

"We can give him a day to cool off," She explains as he grabs a few books and a picnic basket, "We'll leave him alone, and when we come back he'll apologize."

She's not entirely sure about the last part, but it's the easiest thing to tell Scorpius who is devastated that his best mate—besides Rose—has dropped him like a blast-end skrewt.

Rose reads aloud the Moby Dick as they sit by the lake. The sound of the waves, makes it feel like they're really on the sea with Ishmael and Ahab. Scorpius really enjoys the story but when she's finished reading he insists reading her the best story ever. Rose is surprised that it's a novel she's never actually read. It's the wizard version, the original version, of the Arabian Nights. Scorpius has a good reading voice. He changes voices for different characters and he pauses at just the right places. When he finishes, Rose surprises herself by admitting that it was better than the muggle version.

"Of course it's better. It's the original." He responds opening the picnic basket

"Hey, where did you get this from?" He asks, munching on an apple.

"There's a picnic room in the Wardrobe," she explains, "It's filled with baskets and blankets and things. I had planned to make this a celebratory picnic. I mean I was sure that one of you would make the team, but I didn't expect Al to be a right old prat about it."

He nods grabbing a sandwich and Rose continues, "It's enchanted to have any picnic food you want, and the blanket has some sort of bug repellent on it. Rather nice don't you think?"

"Yeah it's great," he responds halfheartedly. Then he decides to ask what he'd been wondering the whole day, "Does Albus hate me?"

Rose just rolls her eyes and grabs a cookie out of the basket, "He doesn't really hate you. He's just jealous. I don't think he's mad about the spot on the team. I think he's mad because he knows you're better than him. He wants to blame you rather than admit that he's not as good as you."

He doesn't respond.

"Guys have this sort of 'alpha male' complex. They have to be better than other guys and feel the need to assert their dominance." She says with finality.

He stares at her, "You have got to get out more. What kind of kid knows what the alpha male complex is by name and speaks like a professor?"

"I read unlike other 'kids'" she says defensively, "There's nothing wrong with that. Besides you have a rather extensive vocabulary as well."

He give her a 'you're unbelievable look."

They sit in silence for a while. Rose nearly falls asleep, but she sees Scorpius taking something rather strange out of the picnic basket. Swim trunks? He goes behind a tree to change then, to Rose's horror he jumps into the Black Lake.

"Aren't you afraid of the giant squid?" she yells at him.

"Nope." He grins back.

He spends the next half hour trying to convince her to join him.

Finally, she really does fall asleep.

When she wakes up, she's wet. She's in the middle of the Black Lake. SHE'S IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BLACK LAKE?! She's still in her school clothes and she's floating.

"Hey you finally woke up." Scorpius looms over her.

"YOU PRAT!" She screams indignantly, "You dragged me to the middle of the bloody Black Lake! We could get eaten by the Giant Squid. We could die and it would be your fault! There are mermaids in this Lake. There are plenty of things that could KILL us. What is bloody wrong with you?!"

He laughs, "Breathe Rose. Relax. It's actually really nice here. There's nothing to worry about."

"Easy for you to say." She mutters to herself, "You can swim."

"Did you cast a floating spell on me or something?" she asks, not daring to get up.

"Of course not. Anyone can float."

"Scorpius, how far out are we?" she asks tentatively.

"Relax we're not in the middle of the lake. We're still close to the shore. And its only six feet deep here."

"But I'm only four six." She says meekly.

"So?" He asks. Then he get's it, "Wait you can't swim; can you?"

She shakes her head, and from that moment Scorpius is resolved to teach her. It takes a while, but by dinnertime Rose can finally do a sort of doggy paddle. She casts a drying spell on herself and he changes back into his clothes.

Rose decides that despite the rough start, the day was actually a rather nice one.

*.*.*.*

At least that's what she thinks before she enters the Great Hall for what seems to be the most uncomfortable she's ever had. It seems like, the entirety of Gryffindor house, scattered among circular tables, is glaring at her. Well, her and Scorpius. Nothing however, compares to what happens after dinner. Al confronts her on her way to Ravenclaw Tower.

"You know, I though family was supposed to stick to family. That we were supposed to support each other," he glares at her, "I thought that you of all people would be on my side."

"What?" she asks, confounded, "Are you still mad about not making the quidditch team?"

"Of course I'm still mad. It wasn't fair. I was just as good as him and he got the spot." He whines obnoxiously.

"No you weren't. He caught more snitches than you. And he could fly faster." She points out, tiredly.

He glares at her, "How can you defend him. He's the son of a Death Eater. His dad was the guy that tormented your parents. And he's a self righteous prat. He's a Malfoy."

"You realize you're not even attacking his skills. You're targeting his family, whose actions he had no control over." She says, trying to get him to listen to reason.

He ignores her,"And you know the worst part. Instead of apologizing to me—"

She snorts.

"—You ran off with him!"

"Al—"she's turning red.

"You went on a date, a bloody picnic, with the guy that stole my spot on the team!"

"He didn't steal your spot!" she yells back at him.

"I thought blood was thicker than water, but I guess you care more about your bloody boyfriend than your cousin." He shoots her another glare, "I hope you're happy with him, Traitor!"

"Albus Severus Potter." She stops him in his tracks, "You are blaming Scorpius for you not getting the spot, when we both know, when everyone knows, that he was simply a better player than you. You're mad at me, because I sided with him. But you have given me no reason as to why I should be on your side besides the fact that we're family, which has nothing to do with this, and prejudice against his family, which is just pathetic. He's my friend, our friend, and we both know that he got that spot fair and square. You're just a sore loser."

He doesn't turn around.

"And accusing me of dating him is completely out of line. We're eleven, Al. I don't like him like that. I've never liked anyone like that." She concludes, completely red in the face, at the thought of that particular accusation.

When she gets to the dormitory the only thing she can do is scream into her pillow. When did Al turn into a prejudiced pig? And why does she have to deal with him. She falls asleep in tears, because, even though it was stupid and mostly one-sided, it was still the first real argument she has had with her cousin. And the fact that he's mad at her has her feeling absolutely horrible.

*.*.*.*

He doesn't talk to her for an entire week. He avoids her in classes. When he sees her in the halls he goes the other way, even if it's a longer route. He hasn't been to the Attic at all.

It seems like the entire first year is talking about her, and she can't stand it. In all honesty she can't stand Al. Well she goes between being absolutely hating him and then feeling absolutely horrid that her cousin hates her. She goes between wishing him dead (well not exactly dead) and wishing that he'd just apologize for being so mean and jealous and be best friends with her again.

*.*.*.*

Another week passes, this one spent in complete silence. People stop staring. Which means that it's gotten normal. She hates it. Her cousin hating her has become a normality.

On the day of Scorpius's first game, Al wears complete Hufflepuff colors. He is not in good humor when Scorpius catches the snitch in nearly record time. He doesn't attend the victory party.

*.*.*.*

As the leaves start falling with the coming of Autumn, Rose finally gives up on the hope of Al ever forgiving her, let alone Scorpius. She gets closer to the girls, and even Xavier, who turns out to be even more hopeless in Transfiguration.

She won't say it but she still misses Al. And, the silent treatment hurts more than the words did.

*.*.*.*

Halloween at Hogwarts is interesting. Rose spends it with the girls, Xavier, and of course Scorpius. After the feast. They go find themselves at a party. Minnie's boyfriend (strange she has one, isn't it?), who is apparently a third year, invited her and she lets them tag along. There are so many people in the Gryffindor Commons Room that Rose is sincerely surprised they all fit.

After fifteen minutes of discretely watching a couple eating each other's faces off, Scorpius, blushing, asks if she wants to leave. She can't find any of her friends and feels guilty leaving them, but she upon seeing Albus glaring at her from his group of friends, she decides that leaving would be a safer option. The second the leave the party, Rose knows where they should go.

"Sir Nicholas's Deathday party!" she grins.

"You mean Nearly Headless Nick? The Gryffindor Ghost?" Scorpius asks incredulously.

"Yeah, James went last year. He said the food was awful, but the celebration was somewhat amusing." She replies, "Any idea how to get to the dungeon?"

"My family's been in Slytherin for ages. Of course I know how to get to the dungeons." He heads off to a nearby staircase.

She chases after him, not exactly sure if this is a good idea, but too curious to care. A deathday party would be interesting to observe.

"Are you sure we're going the right way Scorpius?" Rose asks, her voice trembling. It's nearly ten, and its Hallowe'en and she feels lost. The stairway they're on creeks and the lighting is rather dim. It looks, and feels, like something out of a horror movie. Finally, they get off the staircase. For a millisecond, Rose wishes they still had the Map, but she knows that it was dangerous enough to take it from James for a day. He had decided he had misplaced it when he found it in his sock drawer, but Rose was certain that if it went missing again, he'd be out for blood.

They walk down a corridor for a good twenty minutes before they hear the voices. It's a group of blokes laughing and yelling at each other. Rose reckons they're drunk. Scorpius tells her to hide, but before she gets behind the suit of armor he'd been motioning toward, she gets a good look at them. They look to be six or seventh years. Gryffindors and certainly drunk. One of them has a case of Firewhiskey and another is saying something about getting back at the Slytherins. She holds her breath, waiting for them to pass, but they don't. They hear a sneeze coming behind a wall to their right. Scorpius. Rose doesn't exhale.

"Look," One of them snarls, "It's the Malfoy git!"

They start pounding towards him. Rose wishes she was brave. She wishes that she could go up to them and tell them to stop, but she can't. All she can do is watch in horror. At least until they all hear an unlikely noise bounding down the staircase.

A/N: Haha I left on a sort of cliffhanger. I hope you like the chapter and what I did with the characters. Please review/favorite/follow!

Guest: I'm glad you like it. Hopefully, you'll like where I'm going with the story.

Updated: 8/21/14