She'd nearly managed to forget the conversation she'd overheard by the time she entered History of Magic almost two hours later, but seeing Scorpius with his bright red hair and Albus sitting in the back of the room playing hangman brought it back. She could feel her ears go red.

Scorpius looked up and called, "Hey, Red! When's our next family reunion?"

Several people laughed. Rose shot him a glare and sat down in the front row. 'Was it that obvious?' ran through her head again, and she felt her face getting warm. She was very glad that class was starting and that Professor Binns was clearly too detached from the world to notice.

Very soon, she was too detached to feel much of anything. Nothing could make this class anything but dull, and especially when she had it at the end of the day like this, Binns had a talent for making her want to go to sleep. Today even goblin rebellions seemed dull, and she could usually manage to pay some attention to them. Rose made a mental note to ask Lucy for her old notes.

When class had finally ended, she waited for Albus at the door. "I should get some work done before dinner and practice. Want to join me?"

Albus looked at Scorpius. "We're actually -"

Scorpius cut him off. "We're heading toward the library right now, actually. If you want to join us, I'll try really hard to behave myself."

An invitation from Scorpius was so unexpected that it took Rose a moment to process what he'd said. "Next time?"

Albus shrugged. "Sure. I'll talk to you at dinner." They headed off, and Rose returned to the Gryffindor Common Room. Her head was starting to hurt, which was never a good sign, particularly when she had so much work to do.

After half an hour of staring at her Care of Magical Creatures Assignment and managing two poorly crafted sentences that she knew she'd just have to redo, she thrust the paper away and let her head fall onto the table. Scorpius Malfoy was the worst.

"Hey." James sat down across from her.

She glanced up and let her head fall back onto the table with a thud. Her red hair pooled around her. "Hi."

"Rose, what's wrong?" He sounded genuinely concerned, and after a moment, she felt his hand on her elbow. "What happened?"

"I overheard something today that - that maybe I shouldn't have. Maybe I shouldn't talk about it. I don't know."

She glanced up at him. Now he looked downright alarmed. "Rosie, the Common Room is going to start filling up soon. Do you want to go upstairs? You look a little…" He trailed off.

"I guess. Yeah. Will anyone be up there?"

He shrugged. "Don't think so. If they are, I'll kick them out." He got up and steered her toward the stairs to the boys' dormitory. Thankfully, there was no one in the room he shared with the other sixth year boys, and Rose collapsed onto James's bed. He sat cross-legged next to her and squeezed her shoulder. "What happened?"

"So I'm pretty sure Scorpius Malfoy wants to sleep with me."

It sounded so ludicrous once she'd said it out loud.

James was quiet for a long moment. She turned her head to look at him. She didn't think she'd ever seen him look so taken aback. "He wants to do what?"

"I heard him talking to Albus today. Remember how I told you that we'd mostly ignored each other this summer, while you were off in France with Roxanne and Dominique?" He nodded. "Well, apparently he wasn't really ignoring me. He wasn't fighting with me because he was so distracted with staring at me that he wasn't even processing what Albus said half the time. And - er - apparently he was taking a lot of cold showers. His words." She buried her head in James's pillow again.

He whistled softly. "Well. That's… certainly something. I take it this wasn't a conversation they know you overheard?"

Rose shook her head. "And then I saw them in History of Magic and I could barely even look at him. It's just… it feels weird to talk to him when I know that he's… you know."

"Thinking about you at night when he's all alone?"

She hit him. "James!"

"Sorry." He patted her shoulder. "I don't mean to make light of it. It's just - never mind. Well, how do you feel about that… revelation?"

"I don't really know. It just feels weird. Part of me feels like I should back way off so I don't give him ideas - that just seems mean. But part of me is - well…"

"Intrigued?" James supplied. "Seeing the sweet, sweet window of opportunity?"

Rose felt her cheeks get red. "It just might be fun to, you know. Tease him a little. I mean, he's been so unpleasant this year - I try to ignore him, usually, but he always seems to be trying to pick a fight. I don't get it - how can you want to sleep with someone you hate?"

James sighed. "Move over a little?" She shifted over, and he leaned against the headboard of his bed. "I don't know. Maybe some people can, but I don't think Scorpius Malfoy is one of them."

"How do you know?"

"I don't like him, but other than you, he's been my brother's best friend since your first year. Al - he loves that guy. I don't really get it, but he does. In the world according to Albus, you and Scorpius Malfoy are literally the two best people aside from his immediate family on the planet."

She looked up at him. To her surprise, James looked thoughtful, not mischevious - he seemed to actually be telling the truth. "Seriously?"

"Yeah. That's why he's been trying to push you guys to be civil to each other - he'd love being able to hang out with both of you, and he thinks you'd probably get along if you really tried. I don't know if that's actually true, but you know Albus - always the optimist."

"Oh." Rose sighed. "Well, I guess Scorpius threw a wrench in that by wanting to sleep with me in the first place, and then I threw a wrench in it by overhearing it." She hesitated. "So you don't think he does hate me?"

"Not really. I mean, I've overheard him and Albus talking about girls enough over the holidays that I'm pretty sure he's not that type. I'm not saying he likes you, but… I mean, if you really, genuinely dislike someone, you find things to dislike about them and they get to be ugly pretty fast. And even if not - hell, if I really hated a girl that much and still found her attractive anyway, I would be avoiding her like the plague. But he doesn't seem to be doing that."

"No. He isn't. He actually invited me to study with them in the library after History of Magic - he promised to try to behave himself."

She glanced up at her cousin to see his reaction. His eyebrows had shot up. "Well. Isn't that interesting?"

"Interesting how?"

"If he really does hate you, why on earth would he do that? Friendship only takes you so far, and I doubt Albus would blame him for wanting to avoid you after they had that conversation."

Rose rolled onto her back and stared up at the canopy of his four poster bed. "Huh. That is - er - interesting." She hesitated, and then said, "He has nice eyes, doesn't he?"

She avoided her cousin's gaze, though she could tell he was even more perplexed than he had been a minute ago. "I guess. I can't say I've ever noticed Scorpius Malfoy's eyes before."

"I - I'm just saying."

There was a smile in James's voice. "You don't seem quite as horrified by this as you did ten minutes ago."

"I'm really not sure how horrified I am."

"Well, I'd try to figure it out, because from what you've said, it seems like his feelings about you are pretty damn conflicted. Which actually kind of makes me feel sorry for him." He grinned. "Not that that will actually stop me from going after him, mind. The hair's a good look for him, no?"

Rose finally managed a smile. "Thanks. You're the best." She hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Can you maybe not mention this to anyone? For a little while?"

"I can not mention it to anyone for as long as you'd like, Rosie. It's not a problem."

"Not even Roxanne?"

James snorted. "Especially not Roxanne. She'll jinx him on principle, and while I'd usually get behind that, it doesn't seem sporting to go after him just because he's got a thing for a girl who happens to be related to us."

Rose sat up and hugged him. "Thanks."

"Anytime. You've got to admit, though, I'm pretty much the best cousin ever." He reached out and ruffled her hair. "Today really hasn't been your day, has it?"

"Nope."

"If I reschedule practice, how much would you love me?"

"If you… what?" Rose would have thought that she was hallucinating for sure if her cousin didn't have such a self-satisfied smirk on his face. "A lot."

"All right. Consider it done. Ashleigh was bothering me earlier anyway about trading one or two practices - apparently she thinks the Slytherins need a good kick in the arse. She's a good enough sort, for a Slytherin." He nudged her. "Now, pull yourself together and go be yourself. Don't worry too much about it - this really isn't your problem unless you want it to be."

Rose considered just staying in her dormitory for the evening, since James did indeed end up rescheduling Quidditch practice, but a growling stomach drove her downstairs for the early dinner. She peeked into the Great Hall before heading inside, but for a mercy, Albus was eating alone at the Gryffindor table. Occasionally, Scorpius joined him, and she felt like she still needed the evening to try and process what she'd heard.

She wasn't stupid enough to talk to Albus about the conversation she'd overheard or her conversation with James, of course, but just spending time with him usually helped ease her tension and cool her temper.

"Hey," she said, sliding in across from him.

He started and looked up from his book. "Rose? Don't you have Quidditch practice now?"

"We were supposed to, but James rescheduled."

Her cousin's brow furrowed. "Seriously? Why?"

"I think the Slytherins wanted the pitch. I'm not feeling very well, so I'm just as happy for it."

Albus closed his book and put it on the seat next to him. The Great Hall was far from full; the early dinner tended not to be a very popular one. "What's wrong? Do you need to go to the Hospital Wing?"

"No, I'll be fine. I'm just tired, I guess. Sorry if I disappointed you earlier."

He frowned. "What, with the library thing? Rose, I asked you to make an effort, not spend several hours every day with Scorpius. I know you two don't - don't get along very well."

"I was kind of surprised that he asked."

"Me too, especially since he definitely thinks that you had something to do with his hair - he's been ranting all day about Rose Weasley and that damn cousin of yours."

When they were done eating, they headed back to the Gryffindor Common Room. As they climbed the stairs, Albus cleared his throat. "So, I know you're not feeling well, but…"

"But?" Rose prompted him. "I'm not made of glass, I'm just feeling a little off."

"Did you have anything to do with Scorpius' new hair color?" She didn't say anything, and he sighed. "I promise I won't write home if you did. Or to your parents."

Rose adjusted the strap of her bag so it wasn't pulling on her hair and assumed what she hoped was an expression of complete innocence. "You said it yourself, at Care of Magical Creatures. It couldn't have been me. I was with you all morning."

"Yeah, I know, I know. You got yourself an alibi." He paused. When Rose glanced over at him, he seemed to be considering something. "Why did James and Roxanne really leave Care of Magical Creatures early?"

"I already told you. They wanted to book the Quidditch pitch." She did not suggest that he check. Providing proof of your alibi before you were asked just made you look guilty. She'd learned that from Victoire, who had been the master at getting away with major violations of school rules.

"And they both needed to go?"

She shrugged. "I suppose not, but it's always nice to have a second opinion."

"Rose, say you did do it, hypothetically. What would have been your reason?" He sounded so earnest and serious. Rose loved Albus dearly, but sometimes she wanted to force feed him something that would make him take life a little less seriously.

"Hypothetically?" she asked. He nodded. "Hypothetically, if I had done it, which I didn't, because I was with you all morning, it would have been because he was a jerk last night. He said I shouldn't be in Gryffindor because I was a coward." Albus looked skeptical. "He did!"

Her cousin looked up at the ceiling. She knew from long experience that if he was praying to anything or anyone, it was not going to be answered. "Great."

"And he kept calling me Red."

Albus sighed again. "That's just great. Surprise, surprise - he didn't own up to any of that."

"Of course not."

"Can't you two just try to be nice to each other?" he asked. He sounded exasperated, and Rose supposed she couldn't really blame him. "Or at least civil? You don't seem to manage to have these run-ins with Noah."

"That's because he doesn't go out of his way to bother me, so I don't bother him. Malfoy does. And, anyway, I am trying - that was a hypothetical."

"Right," he said, in a very tired voice. "And you have an alibi, and my brother has plausible deniability."

"Yep."

He shook his head. "Whatever. Just… try, Rose. He really is a nice guy to be around." She started to talk, and he cut her off, wearily. "Yes, I know he's a Slytherin. The two are not mutually exclusive, you know. Noah's a nice guy, too. I like spending time with them."

"Go lecture him, not me," she said as they rounded the corner and emerged at the top of a staircase. "He's always picking fights with me. I'd be happier to just ignore him, I don't know what his problem is."

That part wasn't strictly accurate - the conversation she'd overheard today gave her a pretty good idea of part of what Scorpius Malfoy's problem was, but there was really no reasonable way to broach that subject. She had a feeling that Albus would react poorly to 'Hey, Al, is your best friend harboring deep resentment toward me partially because he'd quite like to shut me up by kissing me?'

Albus sighed. "I don't want to get into this with you - that's not really why I brought this up. I just wanted to warn you - I'm pretty sure he's looking to pay you back."

She looked at him sharply. "What do you mean? What is he planning?"

"I don't know. He hasn't said, because he knows I'd tell him not to do it. But I know him, and I know that he's not going to take this laying down. How long will it take for that hair to fade, anyway?"

Rose shrugged. "I can take him. Hey, can I borrow Hazel tomorrow? Godric's out taking a letter to Dominique."

He looked a little taken aback by the apparent change of subject. "Sure."

Rose was starting to hatch a plan.

A/N: I think this is the first chapter with pretty significant changes - old readers, if you don't remember the scene with James, it's because it didn't use to be there. I always love to hear your thoughts, but since this is new territory, I'd especially appreciate them here. :)

Either way, thank you so much for reading!

- Branwen