I hurried along the streets of Hogsmeade, determined that this would be that day I would finally gather my courage and just do it. I had visited the store countless times during the past month, but I could never seem to just walk up to the counter and pay for my item. But this time, no more excuses, I promised myself. Today will be the day when I actually do it. I have to know.

"Hey, Rose! Wait up!" Oh, dear Merlin. "Where are you running off to, Rose?" Albus asked, catching up to my hurried pace. His cheeks were rosy from the cold but his green eyes gleamed brightly. "Haven't seen you all day. Where do you go during Hogsmeade trips?"

"Nowhere," I snapped, hoping it would shut my cousin up and send him on his way. All in all, Albus didn't bother me too much. He was a contemplative character, nothing like his annoyingly hyperactive older brother. And he never seemed too overtly happy, something I've come to appreciate in a person. But today I didn't want any of my meddling family bothering me.

"Hey," Albus said quietly, sounding rather hurt at my harsh tone. He halted me by the arm. "What's the matter, Rose?" He asked, concern shadowing his eyes.

I sighed and looked him in the eyes. "Nothing, Albus. Really."

"It's not nothing," he said, shaking his head. "You're different this year, Rose. You hardly talk to your family or your old friends. All you do is study and keep to yourself. And you look so sad..."

"I'm not, okay? I might not be the cheeriest person, Albus, but - "

"Rose, is there anything you'd like to tell me?" Albus asked. "I promise I won't tell anyone. Really."

"Albus - "

"Rose, tell me what's going on."

I frowned, weighing my options. Maybe Albus was the courage I needed to finally get it done. I took him by the arm and wrenched him into the apothecary's across the street. I lead the way, weaving through the aisles of potions and herbs. After my many visits, I knew exactly what I was looking for.

"Rose, where are we going?" Albus asked.

I grabbed the bottle I needed from the shelf and clasped it in my hand, staring at Albus. "Albus Potter, I'm not sure I can trust you with this. If you even breathe a word to James, he'll definitely blabber to Aunt Ginny, and that wouldn't be so bad except that she's sure to tell Harry who will tell my mum and dad and then I'd be dead."

"I won't breathe a word," Albus stated. "I promise."

I took a deep breath and said, "I need you to buy this for me."

"What is it?" Albus grabbed the potion from my hand and read the label. He looked up in shock, in fear. "Rose! A pregnancy test?"

"Shh!" I pulled him behind a display where no one would be able to hear us whispering. "Yes, a pregnancy test. I can't buy it. You need to do it for me."

"But Rose, whose?" Albus asked, looking concerned, scared and furious all at the same time.

"Are you going to buy it?" I asked impatiently. "Or do I need to ask someone more responsible?"

"No, no. I'll do it," he agreed hurriedly. "But Rose, you have to promise me you'll let me know how this turns out, what the test says."

"I don't have to do anything - "

"Rose, if I'm going to keep this from my parents and yours, you need to promise me you'll keep me informed. You need someone to take care of you."

My eyes instantly filled with tears. If only it were Scorpius saying those words, instead of my cousin.

"Okay," I finally agreed. "Now will you please buy it?"

Albus pulled the hood of his cloak over his head as a quick little disguise and paid at the counter. The cashier expertly showed no expression as she placed the test into a paper bag and handed it to Albus with his change.

Snatching the bag from him, I ran to the apothecary restroom and read the instructions. The test couldn't be simpler - how ironic, considering that having a child is probably the least simple task in the world.

"Rose?" Albus called from outside the door. "Rose, are you finished?"

I placed the test carefully on the sink. It would take a few minutes to get the results. If I were pregnant, the potion would turn bright green. If not, a dull blue.

I opened the door and quickly ushered Albus inside the restroom, closing the door behind us and locking it. As he leaned back against the wall, looking intently at me, I sat myself on the lid of the closed toilet and put my head in my hands.

"Are you feeling okay?" Albus asked quietly.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I told him. "I had just been feeling a little sick in the morning and wanted to make sure that the one night hadn't led to..." I trailed off, unable to finish. Instead I played with a loose string on my jeans. I couldn't look at Albus.

"Rose...you are the last person I'd expect for something like this to happen to. You're usually so cautious."

"I know."

"Did someone pressure you into it? Were you just not careful?"

"That's just it, Albus. I'm always cautious about everything. But...not with him. He's the exception."

Albus looked at me quizzically.

I sighed. "It's a long story."

Albus walked over to me and took my hand. "I've got time."

***
It Christmastime. Scorpius and Felicity had been together for three months. I hardly saw him anymore and it depressed me...my days now consisted of holing up in my dormitory, studying for hours, and occasionally fitting in some time to read horribly tragic adolescent novels and relating them to my own life. My grades were at the best they had ever been, but as time went on I felt more and more detached with my life.

It was the day after Christmas. I had returned to Hogwarts early, sick of my family's games and merriment. Dad had arranged for me to be able to Floo into Professor Flitwick's office that night.

As I began to haul my trunk out of his office, he called out to me, "Just finished grading the exams from last week! Outstanding job, Rosie!" There had grown to be so many of us Weasleys by this time that Professors had resorted to calling us by not-so-clever nicknames.

The walk from Flitwick's to Gryffindor is longer than I remember, I grumbled in my head. Especially with a trunk and Liddea's cage. My owl Liddea clucked as I dragged my things down the corridors. I had just one more flight of stairs to climb when they suddenly switched, right as I was about to step onto them.

"Dammit!" I cried in frustration.

"Need some help there?"

My heart beat faster just hearing his voice. I turned to face him coolly, one hip jutted out as if I had all the confidence in the world. It's funny though; I don't think Scorpius was ever convinced. "Not from you, Malfoy. I'm sure Liddea would be more help getting my trunk up the stairs than you would."

Scorpius cracked a smile and shook his blonde hair from his eyes. "You know, Rose, the one thing I didn't miss about you during this past week were your incessant insults." He hugged me, rubbing my back as he did.

"Happy Christmas!" I said happily. "Er, belated Happy Christmas!"

"You too," Scorpius replied. "Thanks for the Quidditch book you got me. You really are Hermione Granger's daughter, getting a guy a book for Christmas." I turned slightly red at the comment, but he said it as more of a compliment than anything. "I really like it. And hey, I'm sorry I didn't get you anything. You know how busy I am this time of year..."

"Oh, sure! I mean...I really didn't expect anything back. Don't worry about it. I had just seen that book while Mum and I were Christmas shopping and thought of you...it's not a big deal or anything." Ugh. I had said way too much. "Um, how's Felicity?" I asked as Scorpius heaved my trunk onto his shoulder and led up the staircase.

"She's fine."

"What did you get her for Christmas?" I asked curiously. Once when I was twelve, Scorpius had actually remembered to buy me a Christmas present. It was a cute little jewelry box that played music when it was opened. I kept it in my bedroom and would have still had it in the dormitories if they girls hadn't teased me about to no end.

"Felicity's Christmas gift?" Scorpius scoffed. "Dos it really matter? I haven't even seen her to give it to her yet."

"You didn't see her on Christmas?" I asked in surprise.

"No. She was off with her family in Germany. I would have apparated over there to give it to her, but I haven't taken my exam yet." Scorpius shrugged but then smiled slightly. "She'll be back tonight though, so I'll give it to her then. I think she'll like it."

"I'm sure she will," I replied with certainty, though he hadn't said what the present was and I really didn't have the faintest idea what Felicity would like.

"Well, I'd better be going to get ready," Scorpius said as he stopped before the portrait hole. "Maybe I'll see you later, Rose. Gryffindors are having a little bit of an after Christmas party here in the common room if you'd like to join."

And experience all of his and Felicity's lovey dovey-ness first hand? I think not. "Thanks for the offer, Scorp. But I really have some Potions stuff I should be studying for…"

"Can't you give the studying a rest for a night, Rose?" Scorpius asked with a smile but then added, "Of course, I understand if you aren't able to make it. I just don't get to see you very often anymore and…I don't know. It's weird." He shrugged. "I hope I'll see you there?"

I sighed and smiled, so unable to resist his obvious charm. "I'll try and make it," I finally gave in. He grinned at me and began to walk away toward the Slytherin dungeons. I was so stupid to think I was able to resist him. And I was equally stupid for thinking I'd be able to study while a party was being thrown in the common room that night.

"Come on, Rose!" urged my roommate Ramona, poking her head around our door. Ramona was an all around sweet girl with round brown eyes and wispy brown hair, but she had a terrible knack for following the social crowd. She held a glass in her hand and was already clearly tipsy. "The professors are all gone except for Flitwick. We can party all we want and won't get into any trouble!"

I sighed impatiently. "Ramona, can't you see I'm trying to work on something here?"

She rolled her eyes and walked over to my bed, shutting the book I was studying from. "You have time to do that, Rose. Come on, you never do stuff like this because you're afraid you're going to get into trouble! Usually I am too, but tonight is different. There isn't anyone to stop us." She grinned and pulled me up from the bed. "The Hufflepuffs are already here and the Slytherins are just now arriving!"

"The Slytherins?" I asked. Scorpius would surely be with them, and Felicity was a Ravenclaw, which meant she hadn't yet arrived at the party. I would be able to spend some time with Scorpius without her being there, or even knowing. "You know what, Ramona? Let's go," I decided, leading the way down the stairs to the common room.

"Rose!" Scorpius greeted me almost immediately with a huge smile on his face. "I'm so glad you decided to come! Charlie! Get some drinks for me and my girl!" He called me his girl. I couldn't control the grin spreading across my cheeks as we sat together on the sofa and drank and laughed. Of course we weren't alone—were we ever?—but it was certainly enough for me. The drinks didn't do it for me—I simply got drunk off Scorpius' presence.

"You know something, Rose?" Scorpius asked me, a bit of a slur in his voice. But it didn't matter that he was a bit drunk…I was just thrilled to be spending time with him.

"What, Scorp?"

"There's something I want to tell you. But you're probably going to think I'm stupid for even remembering it…"

"I could never think anything you said was stupid," I replied quickly. Ugh, I sounded so desperate. But I didn't care. I had spent years of my life hiding my infatuation for him. I might as well hint and play it off as the drink talking.

"Well…" Scorpius laughed and shook his head. "Can't believe I'm actually telling you this, but…I used to be completely in love with you."

My heart nearly stopped beating and my cheeks flushed a terrible red. "What?" I asked breathlessly.

"It's true!" Scorpius nodded as if he were trying to convince me. "When I was younger I thought you were the most gorgeous thing on the face of the earth. I even told your Aunt Ginny I wanted to marry you but she just laughed it off." He grinned and took a drink. "And look now, here we are, lifelong friends at the age of sixteen—"

"We're both seventeen, Scorp," I reminded him.

"Seventeen, sitting here and sharing drinks without any, er, weirdness between us." Scorpius clinked his glass with mine, as if giving cheers. "And I'm damn glad for it, too. Swear to Merlin, for a while in there I thought I'd never get over you."

"Scorpius," I said with mounting urgency, leaning into him. "There's something I need to tell you—"

"Liss!" Scorpius cried, jumping up from the couch, spilling his drink on my cardigan. He greeted his beautiful girlfriend with a kiss straight on the lips, right there in front of me. My heart dropped in a sickening way. "Hey, love. Did you just get here?"

"Yeah, just wanted to come and see you," she said in her delicate voice, smiling up at him. Politely she looked over at me and said, "Hello, Rose. I hope you had a good holiday." Felicity was one of those girls who were nice to everyone in school, even though she was clearly popular enough to be rude to whomever she liked. But I had always felt she didn't like me very much, despite her seemingly friendly greetings.

"Yeah, thanks. It was nice. I hope yours was, too," I replied as sweetly as I could, without slurring. It was already too much that Felicity was prettier, nicer, and had Scorpius—I didn't want her to think I was a miserable drunk as well.

"Thanks," Felicity replied. "Do you mind if I steal Mal away for a while? I just haven't seen him since the beginning of holiday and really missed him…" Mal was her sickeningly cute nickname for Scorpius. Oh Merlin, kill me now.

"I'm sure Rose won't mind," Scorpius replied for me, his arm already wrung around Felicity's tiny waist. "Come on, Liss. Let me get you something to drink."

Fighting back stinging tears, I stood from the couch and pushed past the crowds. All I wanted was to be back in my dormitory, the curtains closed tight around my bed, studying my life away. What good was life anyway if I couldn't have him?

***

"Prick," Albus snorted furiously. "Rose, he's an ass. I mean, I like the kid and we're on Quidditch together and everything, but I've always known he's stupid about girls."

I smirked. "You should have told me that about ten years ago."

"Okay, I get that you liked him and everything, but…" Albus looked warily at the pregnancy test, still developing on the sink. "What does he have to do with that?"

***

It was nearly one in the morning and the party was still going on downstairs. I groaned and turned over again in bed, my blankets pulled tight over my head, wishing for the hundredth time for this night to be over. And that's when I heard my dormitory door open.

"She's probably in bed already," I heard Ramona whisper not so quietly and rolled my eyes. "I told you she'd be asleep!"

"It doesn't matter. I need to see her." Scorpius?

"Suit yourself," Ramona replied and walked back out.

Frowning, I opened the curtains around my bed and sure enough, Scorpius was standing before me, red circles around his eyes and his hair a hazard. "Scorp? What are you doing here?"

Scorpius sighed heavily and sat on my bed, burying his head in his hands. "You're the only one I can come to, Rose."

"What's the matter?" I asked worriedly, terrified he had done something stupid while he was drunk.

Scorpius raised his head, looking absolutely dreadful. "Felicity just broke up with me," he said haltingly with a thick voice.

"What?" I asked, half in disbelief. "But…why?" Who would ever break up with Scorpius?

"We went over to the Room of Requirement and I gave her the Christmas gift I got her and she seemed to like it. But then we got into this massive fight—I don't even know what about—and she said she didn't want to be with me anymore. It was as simple as that…" Scorpius shook his head as if he couldn't believe it either. "I just…I just don't know…"

"You…you must have said something to her up there that made her mad," I reasoned. "Because when you two left the common room, she was still as in love with you as ever…"

"I didn't say anything to her, Rose!" Scorpius cried in frustration. "Listen, I came up here because I was upset and I needed to be with someone. So don't go making this a pity party for Felicity."

"I wasn't," I said quickly. "I'm not, I just…I just don't understand why anyone would break up with you…"

"I don't know, Rose. I just…" Scorpius gritted his teeth and looked upwards. "I did everything a guy is supposed to do for his girlfriend. I treated her like a princess. I know what we're supposed to do—my sister reads all those teenage love books and tells me all the romantic things we guys are supposed to do for the girls. I just wish she had appreciated some of it, but she never seemed to."

"I don't know why she didn't," I said quietly, staring at Scorpius' profile. "I certainly would."

Scorpius turned and looked at me, a strange expression upon his face. "Rose," he murmured, gently tucking a strand of red hair behind my ear. "Rose, you really do have the most beautiful eyes. I can never tell if they're green or blue. I remember why I had such a crush on you when we were younger." Then, slowly, he leaned in and brushed a soft kiss on my lips. After hesitating for a moment to make sure I wasn't protesting, he kissed me again, this time pressing a bit harder. I could feel the warmth of his lips spreading across mine. I could taste the alcohol on his tongue, but I didn't care. I loved Scorpius Malfoy and he had just told me I was beautiful. He was kissing me. I didn't care about anything else.

He softly took the back of my head in his hands and pulled me closer, kisses growing deeper. I wrapped my arms around his neck, my hands combing through his wonderful hair. We laid back on my bed, without even stopping kissing. It was then that I felt Scorpius reach for my shirt. I gasped.

"Is this okay?" Scorp whispered into my ear.

And even though I knew he didn't love me, though he had just broken up with his girlfriend, and though he was drunk, I nodded. I wanted him in the worst way. I still do.

***

"I don't remember Scorp and Felicity breaking up," Albus frowned.

"They got back together the next day," I shrugged. "She said it was all a misunderstanding. Scorpius came up to me to tell me the good news—he was ecstatic. He remembered telling me they had broken up, but he didn't remember what we did that night."

"Are you trying to tell me he was too drunk to remember he had sex?" Albus smirked.

"Rose," Scorpius had said, still brimming with excitement over his and Felicity's mended relationship. "I'm sorry that happened last night…I was drunk and I think you were a little tipsy too and it just shouldn't have happened. I'm just glad nothing more happened…so we don't have to worry. I'm just glad we stopped when we did."

"Not entirely. He remembered that we had done stuff…but that's all. I didn't even tell him we had sex because…I don't think he would have taken it well. I think that he would have been so disappointed with himself that…I don't know what he'd do."

"Friends?" Scorp had smiled at me. "You don't know how much you mean to me, Ro."

"Well," Albus said, standing at the sink. "The potion turned blue. You're not pregnant, Rose."

I sighed heavily as Albus came over to show me the colorful potion. "So it's done, then," I said quietly.

"Yeah," Albus said, throwing the bottle into the garbage can. He gave me a sympathetic smile. "Aren't you relieved?"

I looked away hurriedly. I didn't know how to answer the question.