Okay, chapter four now...I had planned something to say here, but I've completely forgotten what it was.

Oh well.
Thanks to everyone that's been reviewing -- they're really what keeps me going, you have no idea. Or maybe you're like me, and reviews keep you going as well.

Well that's just fantastic.

Anyway. I see all you people adding my story to your Story Alert list, and I am so pumped about that, too!!

But I'd love to hear from you, so please leave me a review some time!

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All We Know

"Merlin, Rose! You've gone through all your Christmas candy already?" Rose pursed her lips at her ebony-skinned cousin from across the breakfast table.

"No," She lied, trying to come up with a decent excuse. "I just...lost half of it."

"Yeah, in your stomach." Dom finished, chomping down on her tenth piece of bacon.

"Oh, like you can talk, Porky."

"Hey." The blonde stopped, looking up from her bacon. "Meat has protein. Chocolate has...nothing." She shrugged, giving up on trying to sound logical about a subject she had no clue on.

"Not true." Rose sniffed, pushing her shoulders back some. "It's been proven that chocolate makes you feel better. Even if it has little nutritional value." Dom raised her eyebrow.

"Something's got our little Rosie upset?"

"You know me, Dom." Rose started sarcastically, trying to get rid of the panicked sweat she felt coming on. "Just full of drama."

"Not any more than blondie over there." Dom laughed, taking another bite of her breakfast. The redhead froze.

"What?" Dom looked up, a little curious about the tone she heard in Rose's voice.

"Yeah...Pretty's been over there nearly drowning in his cereal bowl. Didn't you notice that Al's missing?"

"Oh, yeah." Rose blinked and tried to get her mind straight, though she didn't dare look over at the Slytherin table. "He probably ran out of hair conditioner or something." She finished rather convincingly.

Roxanne and Dominique laughed a little and continued on with some other topic of conversation, but Rose's mind stayed on the previous. She tried to convince herself that his sudden depression had nothing to do with her, but every time she got close, the picture of his face when she left him in that courtyard popped back up. She felt awful...but what was she supposed to do?! Her parents would go absolutely insane if she actually gave into her feelings. And when did they become her feelings, anyway?! Sure, there might've been some strange element of tension in their fights the past couple of years...but she could hardly say that she loved him!

...Right?

They were only seventeen years old. How did she even know what love was?! The whole concept was so confusing. Though, she has heard her mother say on many occasions that she fell in love with her father the very first time she laid eyes on him. It just took so many years to grow into that special kind of love.

Who the hell even knew what she meant by that?

Seriously, the word "love" should come with an instruction manual, or something. You can "love" a school subject, you can "love" your new shoes, you can "love" choclate. Then there's the kind of "love" that you give your family. It's different then the kind of "love" you give your spouse.

Hopefully, anyway.

Alright, no time for jokes.

She would be lying to herself if she said that she never thought of Scorpius in that way. When she was a little girl, she used to daydream about him all the time. Of course, that was usually when her parents had made her mad, and she wanted to get back at them. She would always picture herself being swept off her feet by the boy, running away with him and getting married. Oh, that would show them! But obviously this time was different. Rose was of legal age now. She was past the childish running away fantasy. Most of the time. It didn't have to be a fantasy anymore, Rose could do it if she wanted to. But why would she want to? She loved her family. Even the ones she preferred not to be in the room with.

"Oh, bloody hell." Dom said suddenly, rummaging through her bag. "I left my Potions essay on my bed."

"You spent all night on that essay, Dom!" Rose exclaimed, trying intently to focus on a lighter subject.

"That would be why it's on my bed." The blonde quirked her eyebrow at her cousin. "It's probably trying to get the sleep it stole from me. I'll meet you in Charms."

"Wait up, Dom." Roxanne said, gathering her things. "I need to grab a headband before I go to Defense Against The Dark Arts."

"I'll come with you!" Rose said, starting to get up. Dom put a hand on her shoulder.

"Nah, you stay and eat. You've hardly touched a thing on your plate, and I don't want to deal with a grouchy Rose later." The blonde teased. Rose resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at her cousin, but couldn't help agreeing. Even though she didn't feel like eating, she stuck a piece of orange in her mouth and tried to focus on how intense the color was. Anything to keep her mind off of Scorpius.

"So..." She heard the ever-familiar shrill voice of her cousin Molly behind her, which - she couldn't deny - sent an awful shiver up her spine. Rose often got the mental image of her own brain exploding each time the girl opened her mouth.

"Hey, Molly." Rose said dully, peeling back another piece of her orange and trying to ignore the fact that her least favorite cousin had just plopped down on the seat next to her.

"What's up with you and Scorpius?" Rose's mind came to a screeching halt as she stared at the girl, trying to mask the panic screaming in her eyes.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Molly smirked at the uneven tone Rose's question came in.

"Oh, Rosie." Molly was lounging in the seat next to her cousin now, fully enjoying the situation. "You think I wouldn't put everything together? Your absence at the party, his disappearance at the same party. Your skittish behavoir all throughout the break. His solemn expression over there, and, well, you've got your own this morning."

"You've gone mental." Rose muttered, playing it off as best she could.

"Rosie!" Molly squealed, way too happily. Rose felt an odd iching sensation in her fist. "You know, we're a lot alike, you and me. Both cat lovers, both fans of blondes, both equally as smart as the other -- "

"And yet somehow I manage to kick the ass out of every test score you've ever gotten." Rose snapped, grinning smugly as she gathered her things and rushed to the door.

"I really would be nicer to the girl that knows your secret!" Molly yelled across the Great Hall, causing several students to turn and look at her, then at Rose. She froze in her spot, and turned back to face Molly as she sauntered up to her cousin.

"You don't know what you're talking about, Molly." She muttered quietly enough so that only she could hear.

"Oh?" Molly said in her normal tone, "But I think I do. Just think of what your mother will say when she finds out!" Rose's eyes narrowed in a glare.

"What?" She hissed through gritted teeth, no longer caring at the lingering eyes of a few first years.

"Oh, please." Molly rolled her eyes, "Your mother keeps her pensive in a very obvious place. Like I would pass that opportunity up." Rose's glare intensified.

"Mostly it was boring stuff. Legal papers, secret political meetings. Stuff she didn't want to forget, but didn't want anyone else to happen upon in her thoughts. Then, just as I was about to go about my business...Your face popped up. Along with another little blonde. And I'm not talking about a Delacour." Molly winked, condescendingly.

"I have to go Molly." Rose said, trying to keep her calm while turning from her cousin.

"You already kissed him, what now? Are you pregnant with his child?" Rose skidded to a halt again.

"Molly." She warned quietly, still not facing her cousin.

"Well, I always knew Dom was a slut, but Ro--"

And with a loud cracking noise from Rose's fist, the entire Great Hall fell silent. After a fraction of a second, it turned into utter chaos. Students encircled the two girls, Rose on top of Molly, her fists swinging wildly. Rose heard Al calling her name, and she also heard a few professors yelling at students so that they could get through to put a stop to the fight. The crowd was so big, some students were standing halfway down their House tables just in an attempt to catch a glimpse. Rose didn't know what she was doing anymore, but she knew that she couldn't stop. She wasn't even thinking anymore -- it was like she was having an out of body experience. She knew she should stop, but she didn't feel as though she had any control over her body anymore.

"Rose!" She heard Al's voice right behind her, and quickly felt his arms around her waist, pulling her off the girl. "What the hell's wrong with you?!" He yelled, grabbing one of her flailing arms and pulling her back a little.

"What is going on here?" Everyone froze as they heard their Headmistress' booming voice, and a sense of dread loomed in Rose's stomach as she calmed her flailing. Headmistress Stroulger was a very intimidating presence, to say the least. Her height certainly had a factor -- six feet even, though she seemed to grow another three when she got angry. This was no exception.

"Miss Weasley!" She frowned at Rose, then looked to Molly's bloodied face, "In my office, both of you." Rose felt the arms around her waist loosen. "No, Mr. Malfoy, you'd better come too."

Malfoy?! Rose's whole body stiffened as she looked down at the arms that held her. One thing was certain. They definitely weren't Al's.

"Yeah," Molly spoke up, holding her sleeve over her bloodied nose, "Wouldn't want the baby's father to be left out!"

"LIAR!" Rose shrieked, and threw herself forward, almost breaking Scorpius' hold on her. "I'm gonna kill you!" She continued, kicking her feet up, trying anything to get free.

"Enough!" Professor Stroulger boomed, and Rose quickly stopped moving, though she didn't allow herself to lean against Scorpius. "In my office. Now."

--

It was dinner before Rose was allowed to go back to her normal schedule. She had spent all morning and most of the afternoon in the Headmistress' office, getting a good scolding from her. Then, she had to assure her about fifty times that she wasn't actually pregnant. To make matters worse, Scorpius was sitting right next to her the whole time that discussion was going on. As the suspected father of her non existent baby, he would have to have a part in it, of course. If Rose could have picked her time of death, it would have been right before that ordeal. To make matters worse, goody-two-shoes Professor Longbottom decided it would be a good idea to call her mother -- and Scorpius' father!

Imagine Rose's joy when the two of them barged in together, each yelling their own version of "I told you to stay away from them, how could you be so stupid?" Then, of course, they had to yell at each other something like "And what do you mean by that? My child isn't good enough for your's?" Even the Headmistress couldn't shut them up for a while. When they did shut up, Rose got a very, very long talking to from Hermione. She suspected Scorpius got the same from his father, but she wouldn't really know. Who knew her mother could talk so much, and so loud? If she trusted herself enough to talk to him later, she would have had to apologize. He didn't even do anything, other than stop Rose from possibly killing her cousin.

It would've made Christmas time a little less expensive.

To make matters worse -- Molly didn't even get in trouble! She spent most of the day in the Hospital Wing, or so she heard. Rose wasn't exactly allowed to go visit, nor did she particularly care to. Rose was pretty much guaranteed a month's worth of detention. Heck, she would probably be grounded when she got home for summer if she weren't seventeen. Really, holidays weren't going to be a pretty picture after this. Uncle Percy was already unpleasant.

Rose entered the Great Hall with much anxiety, and for good reason. As soon as she set foot through the doors, a great hush fell upon the tables. Rolling her eyes and taking a deep breath, Rose glanced at Slytherin table and saw something she should've expected, but really didn't want to see. Scorpius and Al staring at her. Quickly looking away, she set her eyes on most -- if not all -- of her family sitting at the Gryffindor table. And the expressions on their faces weren't exactly what one would call "welcoming". Then Rose noticed Molly sitting with them, and figured that was why. Dom was sitting off to the side, reading one of her obscure novels. She looked up when she heard the eerie quiet, then when she realized that the rest of the family probably wasn't going to accept the cause of Molly's previously broken nose, she got up and moved to the end of the table where Rose followed.

"Hey Red." She greeted, refilling her plate, "Have a good day?"

"You're pretending that didn't happen earlier?" Rose eyed her while setting her bag down.

"That was my plan." Dom agreed, taking a bite of turkey.

"Alright," Roxanne announced her presence, "I don't like that you hit a family member, but I like the one you hit even less." Rose grinned at her cousin. Roxanne was a year younger than Rose and Dominique, but she was always one of her favorites. And that last comment just bumped her up to new best friend. One of them, anyway.

"So it's okay if we talk about it?" Dom asked carefully, raising an eyebrow.

"It's not like I regret it." Rose shrugged, then she realized what she said was actually true. Did she really not regret it? Usually Rose felt remorse for possibly hurting a stranger's feelings. She made Molly bleed. A lot. And she didn't feel bad? Go figure.

"Good." Dom sighed, stretching her arms. "'Cause I didn't really know how I was gonna keep that up." Rose laughed.

"Man," Roxanne started, resting her chin on her fist, "I should've gone without the hair band this morning. Wish I could've seen it."

"Imagine my surprise to get into Charms and hear that one of my cousins had been punched repeatedly in the face by another one of my cousins -- my best friend no less." Dom mused, poking around her peas.

"Well, if I had known I was going to punch Molly, I would've made sure you two stuck around." Rose laughed softly, then her stomach reminded her how little food she had eaten all day. She quickly dug into a spoonful of mashed potatoes.

"So, uhm...I heard about what she was saying..." Roxanne trailed off quietly. Rose shook her head while she swallowed her food.

"'S a lie." She mumbled. "Just because no one's interested in her skirts, she has to spread rumors about mine."

"So you really did punch her just because of that?" Dom questioned, skeptically.

"Well..." Rose started, debating if it would be a good idea to tell her the truth or not, "She kinda...called you a whore." Dom's jaw dropped.

"I -- whu...What?!" She stuttered, dropping her fork.

"You're more of a virgin than she is!" Roxanne said between insane fits of laughter.

"...Well." Dom said after shaking her head a few times and clearing her throat. "Thank you for...defending my honor." The other two girls started laughing, and continued on with their dinner.

Rose's moral of this story?

...Well, she just got another reason to stay away from Scorpius Malfoy.

Is that a moral?

--

Okay, I tried as hard as I could to think of a cliffhanger, but I couldn't.

So, the last line was a little...bleh.

Anyway, I didn't want to make it too long, so...tell me what you think!
Stay tuned for next time!