Chapter VI: Year V Part II

Even though I had some of this chapter written already, when I sat to return to writing tonight I had no idea that the last chapter and some of this one existed! I didn't remember them at all! Wow…crazy muse. And so a week later after finishing the chapter, I now present the next installment. Thank you reviewers!

Scorpius was trying his hardest to be polite as he looked around the room in search of Rose. He hadn't spotted her yet, and, to his dismay, a flock of girls had come over to flatter him on such a becoming costume. It was really annoying, especially since one of the girls happened to be related to the very girl he was still trying to spot in the crowd.

He eyes widened as he spotted a beautiful girl coming in with a group of Gryffindors. Her blonde hair was wrapped in an alluring bun, and her dress, if you could call it that, was very sexy but not too revealing. His heart stopped as realization hit him…it was Rose!

Excusing himself from the groupies, Scorpius started his way towards Rose, but then stopped cold. Clarence was walking beside her, or rather, trying to keep up with the beautiful fairy. At that moment, Scorpius finally knew what it meant to see red. Because that's all he saw right now.

He felt an arm slip through his.

"Fancy a dance?" A girl asked him. He looked over to see who it was. Sure enough, it was Rose's cousin. He smirked.

"Of course." He replied as he led the girl onto the dance floor, where Clarence was now leading Rose as well.

Scorpius looked at the girl he was now facing as they started to dance. Roxanne was wearing a very revealing devil outfit, and looked quite sexy. However, he still preferred Rose's costume. And if he really admitted to himself, he preferred Rose in any attire, whether it was in her school robes or jeans and a sweatshirt or…no, he could not finish the dangerous train of thought. After the first minute, he couldn't resist looking over to where she was dancing with Clarence. The blasted boy had snaked his arm around Rose's waist.

"Aren't you listening to me?" Roxanne asked with a huff.

"Not really." Scorpius answered, not liking girls who demanded his attention.

"You're an arse." Roxanne replied before storming off, leaving Scorpius alone for just a minute before some other girl decided to take a chance.

Rose caught a glance of Scorpius as he was dancing with…Roxanne? How dare she! Oh, wait, she doesn't know…heck, I don't even know…

Rose watched as Roxanne apparently asked something of Scorpius, and apparently did not like his answer. The girl huffed off, leaving the boy on his own.

Roxanne, of course, had wasted no time finding another dance partner. Figures, Rose thought, with her looks and an outfit like that. What she had not realized was that most of the young men's attention was focused on her. For those who did not know the story of Peter Pan, and even among many of those who did, Rose looked like the perfect wood nymph.

After her dance with Clarence was done, another boy and girl who had been dancing with one another interrupted. When the next dance started, they switched partners which led to Rose dancing with many young men that night.

Scorpius was furious. Yes, he had ticked off one girl, and then the next. And the few after that as well. But he could not keep his eyes off of Rose.

The night was soon drawing to a close when Scorpius finally had his chance. It was the last dance, and she was poised with another fellow right next to him and the current girl he had danced with. With a polite nod, the couples exchanged partners.

"You look…very well tonight Weasley." He said chastising himself for using her last name. It was what his father had done to her mother all throughout their time at Hogwarts.

She looked up at him with a brow raised. Was that a compliment? Not sure, she politely replied "Thank you, as do you, Malfoy."

The boy smirked. "So what made you choose this particular costumer?"

"Well, there's this muggle story about…"

"Peter Pan, yes I figured you are here dressed as Tinkerbell."

"You know the story?"

"Yes," Scorpius replied, "My father bought it for me when I was younger. First muggle book he bought to bring in to the legendary Malfoy Manor."

He had said it in a way that made Rose laugh. Scorpius couldn't help but think her laugh was beautiful. Like dawn laughing as it started with promise of a sunny day then cast a series of light showers upon its dominions.

"Funny," She replied, "How nearly no one else recognized my character." She didn't mention what Clarence said about pixie dust.

Scorpius smirked in the way only Malfoy's could.

They continued dancing until the end of the song. When it ended, the night clearly over for all students, Scorpius brought Rose's hand up and placed a kiss on it. "Thank you for the best dance." He told her.

Rose felt numb as Scorpius whisked himself away, heading toward some of his friends.

The next Monday the students were going to finally start work on their chosen "characters" from the war, and delve into what led up to and finally happened during the last war. Rose was ready, of course, having read all the chapters that her tomb allowed her to, but it hadn't really delved into what really happened to her family. Yet.

Of course, as it happened this year's Magical History course placed all houses together so that there was no escaping any house, nor favoring any partnering of one house to another.

Opening her tomb, Rose was finally able to start on what the chapter told of her mother and father's first year. The text had previously left off when Harry, her uncle, had survived the curse Voldemort cast upon him. She remembered the tears that fell when read of this, even though she knew her dear uncle had been left an orphan from the end of the first war with the Dark Lord.

The professor started lecturing as Rose skimmed her text, taking notes on what was important and parts of the text she wanted to read more thoroughly later. She thought it peculiar that she and Scorpius had drawn names from each other's own family, but had no idea what would be revealed later about the final battle and Scorpius' grandmother's heroic act.

"Now, for the rest of the class," The professor told them, "You will be grouping off with those of similar characters. The golden trio will meet over here," He motioned as two Ravenclaws, one being Scorpius, and one Hufflepuff immediately started to gather their books. "The Malfoy family over here," he said as Rose and one other Gryffindor and a Hufflepuff packed their books away, "over here I want Arthur Weasley, Molly Weasley, and Bill Weasley," he went on as two Slytherins and one Ravenclaw went to join the Weasley group. The list went on, and soon the students were settled into groups that they would work with throughout the semester.

AN: I almost typed "Draco" and "Hermione" in place of our main duo during the dance. Oops! Figures, though ;)

My muse returns! Picking up now in early 2011. Previously this hadn't been touched since Sept 09.

As the next few weeks flew by, the groups that had been formed were now study partners. Rose was paired with "Lucius" and "Draco", and sometimes they were joined by "Bellatrix", her husband, "Sirius", and her own beloved family friend "Andromeda" along with the deceased "Tonks" and "Lupin". And when the entire group was together, that meant being around Clarence. And his flirtatious had not ceased; in fact, they on became more frequent and obvious, much to the annoyance of the study group. She hadn't thought much of the strange conversation she overheard between her mum and Mr. Malfoy, and it helped that Scorpius had been going home on recent weekends to help his family with one thing or another. Sometimes seeing him reminded her of it, and she'd withdraw herself from anyone and either go to the library or her dorm room. Or outside for a walk.

On a Sunday night, Rose was relieved to find that she was alone in the library. No group study, no other students whispering or tapping their quills on the table, and thank most of all, no Clarence. No, it was getting late and most other students were being lazy in their common rooms, moaning about the end of the weekend.

Unfortunately she wasn't alone for long, as she heard the ancient door creak open as likely another student came in for some last minute research. She didn't have a view of the door from her spot near a window, and ignored the sounds of someone walking about nearby.

Annoyance built as she heard the person approaching her lone, sacred table.

She looked up with a scowl, which turned to an expression of surprise when she noticed who it was. Scorpius.

"Hey, Weasley," He said with the friendly smirk he had been using when addressing her lately.

"I…I thought you went home for the weekend," She said with a light blush appearing on her face.

He ran one hand through his hair, looking around before setting his bag on her table. He looked at her with a question; she nodded and moved some of her things about to give him some room on the table. It wasn't overly large, rather small but enough room for two people.

"Well, I had to get back sometime. Class tomorrow and all."

"Was everything alright? I mean, I thought your family had an emergency."

"Grandfather. He's fine, just fell down some stairs." He didn't add that his grandfather and grandmother had been arguing, and that his father wondered if she had pushed him.

"Is…is he alright?" She asked hesitantly, knowing Scorpius didn't like being around him much, which was far nicer than the rest of the magical community regarded the elder Malfoy.

He smiled, not a full smile, but it showed concern as it was his grandfather, after all. "He is. Just demanding a lot of attention. Well, service mostly. Got stuck helping him out along with grandmother last night."

"Oh." She said, then smiled that everything was okay.

"She wants to meet you." Scorpius said nonchalantly as he took out some notes and a textbook."

Scorpius sighed as he finally sat down to relax, waiting as his grandmother asked the house elves to bring them some biscuits and hot chocolate, knowing her grandson wasn't so fond of tea.

She smiled at him as the house elves delivered the goodies, and waited until Scorpius took a sip from his mug.

"So how is your school year coming along?" She asked him lovingly.

Scorpius returned the smile. He loved his grandmother. She held the Malfoy family pride, but was very loving to him. He told her about the project, and she asked him who was his subject.

He smirked. "Hermione Granger. Or rather, Hermione Weasley now."

"Oh! That is quite the task. She was one of the Golden Trio, and very helpful to the success for the war. Did you know she received an…"

Scorpius interrupted with a laugh. "Yes, although the Ministry had wards on our texts to prevent us knowing future chapters, I do know that she has an Order of Merlin, First Class." He set down his mug, wanting to change the subject. Why, he wasn't sure. Perhaps it was what he knew of his family. Not many details, but he did know enough to make him feel ill at the thought of some of the things his grandfather had done, and what his father had done in desperation to survive. He knew his father regretted his own participation on the Dark Side, hence the changes he had made in his life. Not to mention the love he gave to his son and his wife.

"Rose Weasley has you." He blurted out.

Narcissa hearly dropped her own mug. "Me? Why me?" She asked. Of course, she knew which Weasleys Rose was birthed from.

Scorpius shrugged. "You helped Harry Potter, that's all I know. We haven't gotten to the final war with…with…"

"Voldemort." His grandmother hissed.

"Yeah, him…anyway she got you for her assignment."

Narcissa was silent for a few moments.

"And you know this girl? Is she a friend?" She waited and raised a brow as she saw her grandson's face turn red.

"Uh, yeah…we worked together last year. Remember?"

She nodded. Her daughter in law had mentioned it with amusement. She thought carefully before telling Scorpius something his parents hadn't likely shared with him. "Scorpius, I need to tell you something. It's quite interesting that you got Mrs. Weasley and her daughter got someone in our own family. Namely myself."

Scorpius looked at his grandmother in confusion, then listened carefully as she told him what he hadn't know about his parents separation and reconciliation.

"Whatever for?" Rose asked with surprise, breaking Scorpius from the memory.

He composed himself and smirked again. "Your report. I told her about you are doing a report on her, for the war project. And since it's not due until February, she suggested inviting you to the manner over the holidays."

Rose's mouth had fallen open with surprise. Realizing the stupor expression, she shut before forming a response.

"Well, I guess it is only fair that I ask you to meet with my mother. I'll send her an owl…"

"No worries. Father's already arranged for that."

The expression on Rose's face changed again, but what Scorpius saw did not look like surprise or thankful. No, she looked furious, and started to gather her things up.

"Rose," He said stopping her and placing his hand gently on hers. "I also learned something. Something you might want…need to hear. How much do you know about my parent's separation?"

Rose stopped collecting her things, settling back down to listen. She took a quick glance around. They were still alone. Letting his hand stay, she listened.

When he was done telling the story, Rose couldn't believe the amount of relief she felt. Nothing had happened. Mr. Malfoy appreciated her mother, nothing more. She smiled at Scorpius and then, without thinking, leaned over to kiss his cheek. He had turned slightly in surprise at her approach, and the kiss landed closer to his mouth.

"Thank you," she told him, then packed her things and left the library.

Scorpius was still for a few minutes after she left, one hand reaching up to touch the place her lips had touched him. It burned with the most delightful feeling he had ever felt.

To be continued…