Chapter Twenty

With everyone in the Great Hall for dinner, Hogwarts' corridors are eerily empty as I make my through them. I remember a time when this was almost an everyday occurrence for me – walking the castle while the other students ate. Somehow, between the start of the year and now, I've been doing less and less of it. Always finding myself dragged down to dinner by Will or Faye or Lily. I used to spend hours completely on my own; could go days without talking to anyone at all. I cannot remember when things started to change; they came so gradually I was never forced to notice. It is only here, when I am once again wondering aimlessly through the corridors that I realise I cannot even remember the last time I did so.

Eventually I find myself all the way on the Seventh Floor, my feet taking me to a small alcove that barely anyone knows is there. It's hidden behind a statue of a woman plunging a knife into her heart. Despite it's morbid topic, it is a really beautiful statue; the woman's face is so expressive of heartbreak and betrayal that it makes you ache just looking at it.

Slipping behind the billowing stone of her cloak, I conjure up a cushion and tuck myself onto the small stone bench in the wall. I suppose I should be more unsettled at the fact my secret is now lying bare for all to gossip about but in truth, it doesn't really matter. People thought I was a slut before. Now they think I'm a slut who takes money for her services. They will probably speculate that I've sold more than kisses; they will look down on me for what I have done; they will tell their parents. It will probably get in The Prophet. Disgraced Daughter of the Golden Couple.

That, I guess, will have to be the thing I dread the most: the disappointment from my family. Because while I may not be close to many of them, they are still my family. What I have done will cast a black shadow on the Weasley name. And it's too late to stop that now.

So on a big scale, yes, I regret my secret coming out. I don't regret what I have done but I regret it being common knowledge. I should just have said no to Lucy when I had the chance. But then I would have never really realise how over Dave I was. And I would not have been able to move past that. So on a personal level, it was worth it. On a personal level, it makes no difference whether people know or not. It will mean a drop in income of course. But other than that, I don't really care.

The sound of footsteps drags me from my thoughts; everyone should still be at dinner. And I know for a fact that the Marauders' Map is in my trunk in the Gryffindor girls' dormitory and Albus is the only one who knows I have it.

"Rose?" a voice questions on the other side of the statue and I cannot help the swooping in my stomach. "If you want to be left alone, then please just say so but…" he trails off.

"How did you find me?" my traitorous mouth blurts while my mind tries to find the best way to tell him to piss off. I hear a slight chuckle nearby. "I remember you telling me all of your hiding places once, when we were in the kitchen… I figured I would try this one first as it is tipping rain outside and the Owlery is a bit public," he explains. And my heart picks up a pace. How could he possibly remember all that about me? More importantly: why would he remember all that about me?

"Well are you just going to stand there or are you going to come and sit down?" I mutter out gruffly to another chuckle. With some effort, as his shoulders are somewhat broader than mine, Scorpius Malfoy manages to slip behind the statue and almost comes tumbling into my lap as I shift aside to make room for him. The bench is small, barely wide enough for the two of us to sit side by side.

"Are you okay?" he asks once he is settled. I just nod. "Professor Hemmings literally had to drag Lucy from the Hall she was in such a state. I don't know what it is about your family but you lot tend to get really worked up sometimes," he snorts. I roll my eyes. "Lily ran out after you by the way but Hugo managed to catch her, he seems to think you need time alone…?" Malfoy trails off, glancing at me questioningly. When I don't reply, he continues. "Faye almost followed her but Andrius caught her – not that she would have been able to find you I'd imagine," his gaze is questioning again, as if curious about whether or not Faye would have been able to track me down. I shake my head slightly in response: no.

"That Henderson kid just looked shell shocked. So did Albus," he continues with a tiny smile tugging at his lips. "The Slytherin table though – I didn't even know we could get that noisy. Seriously, I had people yelling every side of me. I'm going to make a wild guess and say most of the morons who came to you were in my House?" he raises an eyebrow. I just smirk. "Well anyway, half the boys looked like they were going to puke. I've got to say, it was the most entertaining dinner I've had in a long time," he snorts. "The last time the Slytherins got even half as close to such an uproar was when someone decided to change all their emerald green to bright pink," he chuckles and I can't help the smile that tugs itself onto my face. And he looks up at me and his molten grey eyes are bright and my chest feels constricted and my stomach swoops again. And it just doesn't make sense.

"Aren't you-" I start before pausing and changing tack. "It must be a bit of a blow to your ego to know that every time I kissed you, I was getting paid for it?" I frown, not really sure why it came out as a question rather than the statement it was intended to be. His face freezes for a moment. And then-

And then he laughs.

Not the sniggers or chuckles I've heard from him before but a full on laugh that throws me instantly back to that afternoon in Potions when we got detention and he called me Rose. And in that moment, as he gasps for breath, I realise that he isn't Malfoy anymore. Or even Scorpius Malfoy. He's just Scorpius. And I'm not really sure what that means.

"Rose," he gasps at last. "I hate to break it too you but I already knew," he grins. My face must be comical because he laughs again.

"What?" I very almost shout.

"Come on Rose," he chokes out. "I've known for ages! Since October in Fifth Year if you want to be exact," he laughs and even through my shock, he manages to pull a smile from me. "It doesn't take a genius to figure it out. I bet loads of people knew, they just never really talked about it. Or, maybe they did, just a little – seriously though, how else would you get the business?" he chuckles. "By the looks on their faces, I'm guessing the Potters didn't know but I bet your brother did – and I bet he told Logan because he was hardly surprised. Although he could probably have figured it out himself… Honestly Rose, I think most people already knew," he shrugs.

"And here I was assuming the population of Hogwarts School just had bellow average intelligence," I mutter darkly, earning myself another burst of laughter from Scorpius. It feels weird, in a way, just calling him Scorpius. Even if it is only in my head. "So it really doesn't bother you that I was paid to kiss you all those times?" I frown again. Because if I were him, I would be pretty pissed off. After all, I've been paid to kiss him far more than anyone else.

"Not all those times," he mumbles so quietly I can barely hear him. The laughter is gone from his face but there is a softness in its place.

"Huh?" I respond intelligently.

"You weren't paid to kiss me every time," he repeats, glancing up to meet my gaze.

"No, not every time," I agree quietly. "In fact, I haven't been paid to kiss you since that girl who just frolicked everywhere," I frown. Had it really been that long?

"You mean Clarissa Baits?" Scorpius smiles. "I know."

"But then…" I frown again. "Why would you kiss me? If you knew, then surely you must've known that you would get caught?"

Scorpius looks down at his hands, which are clasped in his lap, and I watch as a faint blush creeps up the back of his neck. "I don't know… It was just an easy way to break up with them I guess," he shrugs, not meeting my eye in a way that makes me think that's not the whole truth.

"What I want to know is why so many of your girlfriends actually ended up coming to me?"

"I just… They were interesting for a few days I guess but then I just got bored and they got clingy and all it really took was for me to mention you a couple of times or let them catch me watching you and sooner or later I would find myself cornered in a corridor somewhere with you," he smirks. "Not all of them were like that though, to be fair. A few I just had to break up with myself. I even gave a couple of them a real try but they just weren't y- they just weren't interesting enough," he shrugs.

"Did you deliberately pick the dumb ones?" I can't help but ask.

"Maybe," he represses a grin but his eyes are sparking when they meet mine again. We just stare at each other then, neither of us finding a reason to look away as I feel my heart beat picking up again. It has a tendency to do that in this Malfoy's company. When the air between us feels suffocating, Scorpius opens his mouth. "Rose I-"

"Rose!" someone yells down the corridor and I start, flailing my limbs and falling of the narrow bench, cursing loudly. The person calling my name stops. "Rose?" they repeat, probably looking around for where the noise was coming from. "Are you there? Look, I really want to talk to you," the voice continues and I recognize it at Lily's.

"I should probably…" I gesture in the direction of Lily's voice when Scorpius offers me hand to stand up.

"Of course," he smiles, helping me up before pressing himself against the wall so that I can get passed him and out from behind the statue. My body presses dangerously close to his and I can feel the heat radiating from him. His breath ghosts over my face and I have to hold by breath to stop myself doing something stupid.

"I'll uh… I'll see you around?" I mutter awkwardly once I'm free of the tight space. And then I wave. It is the most ridiculous thing I have ever done. Scorpius is stood just over a foot away from me and I wave at him. What is wrong with me? Did I leave my sense behind in the alcove or something?

"I'll see you round Rose," he smiles, waving back at me in amusement.

"Yeah… yeah," I mutter, turning around and almost tripping over my feet. "Bye," I call over my shoulder. He just grins widely at me, leaning against the statue of Seraphina Slytherin.

"Rose?" Lily gasps when I make it into her line of sight. "Rose…" she repeats, looking uncomfortable.

"Let's take a walk," I suggest, indicating down the corridor away from Scorpius and the alcove.

"Uh, sure," Lily agrees, falling into step beside me, glancing over her shoulder in puzzlement, no doubt wondering where I appeared from. We walk in silence for a few moments. "Look Rose, I have no idea how much of what Lucy said is true… But if it is, is that what happened with Will Montague? Did he pay you to kiss him to get rid of me?" she asks, face vulnerable.

"No," I shake my head viciously. "You know the girl that was with you that night?"

"Jada?" Lily frowns. "Yeah, she's in some of my classes… She seems nice enough."

"Yeah well I'm not sure 'nice' is the right term for her," I snort. "She was the one who paid me, made me think Montague was her boyfriend. I honestly had no idea you were seeing him Lily," I confess.

"Oh… Okay," Lily frowns and we keep walking. "But why would Jada do that?"

"I have no idea, she's a Slytherin – Merlin only knows how their minds work. Maybe she was a jealous ex or something? Or just jealous? Or just a bitch who likes to fuck with people?" I suggest and Lily snorts.

"I'm sorry I didn't listen to your side of it," she whispers. "I know I should have but I was just really pissed off."

"It's fine, if it weren't for Lucy, I don't really know what I would've said to be honest," I shrug. "But what happened to Keegan though? I thought you really liked him and it seems a bit quick to have moved on?"

Lily's face breaks a little. "I'm not," she confesses quietly. "I'm not over him. I just… With Al… I couldn't do that to them. They're best friends. I can't ruin that. I was only really dating Montague in a pathetic attempt to forget about Keegan," she whispers.

"You know the only reason Al is against you and Keegan is because he doesn't want to have to pick a side if it goes wrong. Keegan is his best friend but you're his little sister, Lily. It's not that he doesn't trust Keegan with you – or the other way round even – its just that he doesn't want to have to pick if you have a nasty break up," I explain.

"He wouldn't have to pick, I would never make him pick!" she replies instantly.

"I know that but I'm not sure that he does. You know how important family is to Al. He would feel obliged to pick your side."

"Well that's stupid!" she huffs.

"Just talk to him about it Lily, honestly."

~X~

Lily and I chat for a little while before she builds up the resolve to talk to her brother and then I am left alone again. I head to the kitchens, having missed dinner and I am only half surprised to find it already occupied. I am, however, surprised by who is occupying it. Or, rather, the fact that they are occupying it together… chatting… laughing. They don't even know each other.

"Uh…" I state, momentarily lost for words.

"Rose!" Hugo smiles. "I saved you dinner," he summons a plate sitting on one of the long House tables and gestures to the floor beside him. Scorpius smirks down at me as I take a seat in font of Hugo's chair and lean against my brother's leg.

"Fix things with Lily?" he asks. I nod, mouth too full of chicken to answer.

"Hugo was just telling me about the time you set fire to your grandparents' shed," Scorpius continues smirking and I raise an eyebrow at him at his casual use of my brother's first name.

"It was an accident," I mutter after swallowing my food. "We didn't realise there was hay on the inside."

"Accident or not, it was hilarious," Hugo snorts. "All the adults were running around in circles trying to catch the chickens while the shed was just burning down with no one trying to stop it."

"Has your family not heard of something called… magic?"

"Ha. Ha," I roll my eyes. Hugo nudges me with his knee so I elbow his shin and immediately regret it, wincing as I bruise my funny bone. Scorpius chuckles at my pain. "Screw you," I mutter.

"Only if you ask nicely," he winks and Hugo coughs loudly to remind us of his presence. I can feel the blush flaming in my cheeks as I look back down at my food. "You must have a real gift for pyrotechnics because I could've sworn you were involved in the burning of my tree house when I was twelve," he taps his chin as if trying to recall the specifics.

"That was mainly Castor," I mutter darkly at my food.

"You set fire to their tree house?" Hugo chuckles.

"It was also an accident," I mutter.

"You burnt it to the ground," Scorpius points out. "There was literally nothing left but a pile of ash and some scorched tree stumps!" I glare at him.

"Was it you that set fire to Professor Vector's robes in my First Year, then?" Hugo frowns.

"That was definitely an accident!"

"That was you!" Scorpius very almost squeals. "The whole of Slytherin got a lecture on that because they thought one of us did it!"

"Well it's not my fault your House always acts so suspicious," I quip.

"Screw you," he mutters glumly.

"Only if you ask nicely," I grin.

~X~

The whispers are worse now then they have been for ages. I cannot walk down a corridor without feeling the eyes of everyone there on me; without hushed insults being thrown at me; without lewd gestures being made in the corner of my eye. I ignore them of course, like I always have.

Walking into the library is like stepping outside when indoors becomes suffocating. It's almost full of course, being this close to exams, but people are too focused on their work to pay me any attention. I make my way over to where Faye is already seated at our usual table – a little relieved she is actually there and not avoiding me after Lucy's revelation.

"Morning," she greets as I sit across from her. "How are you?"

"Fine actually," I shrug. Because I am, despite it all. "You?"

"Good," she smiles and it's a slightly secretive smile as if there is something I don't know.

"You going to elaborate?" I ask.

"Are you?" is her quick retort.

"There's nothing to tell really, most of what Lucy said was true," I shrug. "But I am leaving here in just under a month so it doesn't really matter what people think. I've spoken to most of the people who matter – you and Will are the last ones," I shrug again.

"Lucy is a cow," Faye mutters. "And I'm not one to judge," she gestures vaguely at her stomach which is hidden beneath her loose robes. She has just over a month before she's due. "I have no idea why you did it but it's not really my business," she smiles.

"Thanks… Now you, what are you hiding?" I prod.

"It's nothing really," she blushes, looking down at her textbook. "Just, I've been spending a lot of time with Andrius lately. He's been so attentive. Yesterday he took me for a picnic on the other side of the Black Lake. I've no idea where he managed to get the food but it was lovely Rose," she smiles softly again at the memory. "We've been talking about the baby a lot," she continues. "I won't be able to come back to Hogwarts for my NEWTs but I'll at least have my OWLS," she waves at the books surrounding her. "But Andrius will come back. He's made me promise to write every week about the baby. We've even narrowed down the baby names to three of each gender," she grins. "When he finishes Hogwarts, he plans to find us a house to share so that he can be with the child too."

Faye's face tells more than her words ever could. She hasn't really stopped smiling since I came in and there is a constant colour in her cheeks, somewhere between a blush and a healthy, happy glow. I have never seen her look like this in the months that I've known her.

"Are you…" I trail of with a hand gesture, trying to get my pint across without actually having to say it.

"Dating?" she supplies. "I don't know," she shrugs but the uncertainty doesn't seem to bother her. "He kissed me good night," she continues. "It was just a chaste kiss, nothing like… before," she gestures to her stomach again. "But it was nice. I like him Rose. I think we could be happy."

"I hope you will be," I smile, oddly jealous of the happiness on her face.

"And I'm so excited about the baby now Rose," she goes on. "I was terrified before – and I still am – but now I'm excited too. We're going to be living with my grandmother until Andrius finishes Hogwarts but even that I think I can live with. I'm actually going to have a baby Rose. Someone I can love completely unconditionally." Her smile is so bright it is almost blinding and I can't help but think how different it is from the girl I found crying in the bathrooms so many months ago. "Andrius wants to name it after my mother if it's a girl or my father if it's boy but I want to give them a whole new name, something that doesn't have anything attached to it, no memories, no sadness… Maybe I'll use it as a middle name or something though," she rambles, talking more to herself than to me.

As I being pulling out my own textbooks and essays, I watch Faye and I hope to Merlin that this happiness will last. She deserves that much.

~X~

Faye leaves a few hours later to get some lunch and no doubt spend some times with the youngest Malfoy but I am hardly alone for a minute before her seat is being filled by none other than Bethan March. I raise an eyebrow at her and wait for her to speak. While we may have been getting on a little better these last few weeks, I have no idea what her reaction to Lucy's blabbering will be.

"Before you get your knickers in a twist, I already knew," she rushes out after a moment's silence. I stare at her. What. "I already knew all about your little business, or part f it anyway," she continues with a wild wave of her hand. "You remember when you kissed Leo at the end of Fifth Year?" I nod. "Well, we weren't actually dating. You wouldn't talk to me so I asked Leo to see if he could get through to you and he came back saying that you thought we were dating and that you had offered to kiss him in front of me for a quick break up or some other such nonsense," she shrugs. "Anyway, after that I figured it out pretty quick, it's not really that hard if you think about it, I'm amazed you've made it this far without it being public knowledge," she muses. "But anyway, I already knew about it, I have no idea why you do it but there we go. I just want you to know that I'm here if you want to talk – as ridiculously corny as that sounds, sometimes a fresh perspective can be a good thing," she finishes with another wild wave of her hands.

"Uh… If you and Leo weren't actually dating, why did he go through with it?" is the only thing I that comes from my mouth. Great.

"Oh, I asked him to. I wanted to see if you would really kiss someone you thought I was dating," she shrugs.

"And I did…"

"Yeah, you did. That's when I knew Dave had really fucked you up," she shrugs again, pulling out an apple from her bag and biting into it. "Which is what made the fact you walked into dinner with him yesterday, smiling I might add, all the more surprising."

"Oh that, he wanted some closure I think and I was happy to give it to him. We never actually talked about our break up."

"They guy's still a dick," Bethan mutters.

"I never said he wasn't," I grin and just like that I'm hit with a sudden sense of nostalgia for the days before Dave, when Bethan was my closest friend outside of James, Castor and Molly. "I'm sorry, by the way," I find myself saying. "I should never have kissed Leo, even though you weren't actually together. I thought you were and I never should've done it."

"Thank you," she smiles softly. "That actually means a lot." Then her face changes back into her usual easy going smile and she says: "now you can help me with this bloody Astronomy essay because I haven't got a clue what Sinistra is on about…"

~X~

The last person I need to talk to whose opinion I actually care about is Will. And finding him is a little harder than I anticipated. When at last I spot him, he is sitting with a bunch of other Sixth Years in the common room. They have their textbooks out and are chatting, no doubt, about the end of year exams. They're a little more relaxed than most of the Fifth Years and Seventh Years I've seen around lately.

Taking my usual seat in the window alcove, I open up the Potions book Zabini had given me and browse through it for ideas. Hogwarts is almost over and soon I will have to look into Brewing Apprenticeships or working in potions stores. I should really ask my cousin Fred about it as he is a Potions Brewer himself and sells his potions to Zabini Elixir, Professor Zabini's potions store in Diagon Alley.

Eventually people begin to drift off to their dorms, the Sixth Years included. Will waits until his friends have gone before coming over and taking up the left over room on the alcove seat.

"It true, isn't it… What Lucy said," he opens with and I just nod. "Wow… okay," he frowns, seeming unsure of what to say. I shift uncomfortably in me seat, anxious about what he will say next. It has been a while since I really cared what someone though about me and it's a little unnerving. "I don't… I don't need to know why you did it Rose," he sighs at last and I know I must visibly relax. "I don't get it," he carries on. "But I don't need to know why. That's your business and you probably don't want to talk about it."

"Thank you," I smile and it's like a weight has been lifted off my chest. Will is such a good person that I was terrified he would turn away from me because of what I have been doing. It goes against his morals and I know that.

"You're my friend Rose," he shrugs. "That's all that really matters. I was shocked and a little confused but I'm sure you had your reasons… I don't know. I guess it makes me feel a little better about the fact that you were always kissing guys but you never once tried to kiss me," he jokes and I can tell it's not as lighthearted as he is trying to pass it off as but I appreciate the effort and smile back at him.

"You were too good a person for that," I snort.

"I'm kind of kicking myself I didn't figure it out though," he pouts. "But you didn't tell me! And I've decided that means you owe me one so you're going to help me get a date with Bertha Corner as payment," he smirks.

"Bertha Corner?" I raise an eyebrow.

"I'm just trying to move on Rose," he laughs. But I can see the sadness in his eyes and it breaks my heart. A part of me just wishes I could love him back the way he loves me. But he deserves better. He deserves someone who isn't as broken and twisted as I am. He needs someone happy and whole, who he can love and who will love him back. He doesn't need someone with trust issues the size of Hagrid's pumpkins.

"Well, how well do you know her?" I ask and we fall into easy conversation once more. It's something we are good at, accepting the way things are and moving past them.

~X~

When almost all the students have gone up to the dorms and I am one of the last remaining, the portrait hole swings open and my brother steps in, looking a little disheveled. He heads straight in my direction and I'm about to open my mouth to tell him that if he so much as mentions my little 'job' I will hex him into next Tuesday (because seriously, after an entire day talking about it with various people and having people talking about it behind my back, I've had enough) when he slumps down beside me and tilts his head against the glass of the window to stare up at the ceiling.

"I kissed Logan."

Author's Note

Hello lovely readers! Sorry this chapter is a bit disjointed, I had to fit in a lot of conversations with a lot of people and I know it jumps about a bit so sorry about that. It's a bit of a filler chaper - but a necessary one. The next chapter is something I've been planning from basically the beginning, so I'm quite excited about that! Hope you enjoyed it anyway and reviews are always welcome! Don't forget to check out by blog (link on Author's Page) for update news, photographs and extra information about the characters as well as previews of the next chapter image and summary. It also has a link to a current family tree for this 'verse if you are interested. Thanks again for reading!

Irish Myth.