A week later, in the Great Hall, Scorpius was a bit distracted. And he, as many people do, had a habit of staring off into space blankly when they were thinking hard about something, space that just "happened" to be concentrated around the Gryffindor table. Albus, noticing the lack of conversation coming from his comrade, could tell that something was amiss.

"What seem to be the problem mate? What's so distracting that you won't even talk to me? I was talking about Quidditch. You LOVE Quidditch." It was true, Scorpius had a natural affinity for the sport and was Slytherin's prized Chaser.

Scorpius continued to ignore Al and remained in his own little world.

Al sighed in defeat, unable to engage his distracted companion in conversation, he curiously followed Scorpius' gaze.

SMACK.

Scorpius rubbed the back of his head, "Ow! Bloody Hell? Fine! I'll converse about your stupid Quidditch. For Merlin's sake!" he sounded quite like a little girl.

"No. No, we will not talk, OR converse about Quidditch until you tell me why in the name of Merlin's most saggy Y-fronts you are staring at the Gryffindor table."

"I'm-I'm not. There's a lovely tapestry over yonder."

Al looks up and then back at Scorpius.

"Are you serious? I'm not dense. There is no tapestry."

"You must not have tapestry vision."

"You, my friend are a terrible liar."

"Am not." Whined Scorpius. "I wasn't really staring AT anything. You know I do that when I'm thinking."

"So what were you thinking about so intently that it left you no interest in the new plays I've come up with for our game against Ravenclaw?"

"Nothing much." Scorpius lied. In truth he had been thinking about what Rose had said in the Library last week. It hurt a little, to be honest. Of course he didn't think that Rose was just an interruption. She was his best friend's favorite cousin so he saw her everyday at school for the past six years, and quite a few times during the breaks. Sure they never really became good friends, but he always had an odd sense of respect for her. She was a great Quidditch player, the top student in their year, and somehow still had time for all her cousins and their crazy problems. So why didn't he like her? Scorpius had gone out with quite a few girls before, why not her?

Albus sighed resumed eating, in silence.

It took him all lunch, but Scorpius finally decided it was because she was a Weasley. His father barely tolerated a Potter as his best mate; even then it was only because it helped his family's image, and therefore his father's image as well. Though he hated to admit it, Scorpius craved his father's attention and acceptance, which was something very hard to get because his father was extremely self-centered. Rose was something he couldn't touch, from fear of the wrath of his father and her numerous relatives, and as a Slytherin, a house that encourages self-preservation, Scorpius did not have the guts to try. But Merlin help him if he wasn't tempted.

Once Scorpius reached his conclusion he turned over to Albus, whom he found was preoccupied with someone.

"Want to play some Quidditch later?" Rose asked Albus.

Apparently Scorpius was not the only one to have stealthy skills.

"Certainly." Smiled Al. "Can Scorp come?"

Scorpius answered quickly, "I can't make it. I need to study for the Charms test coming up soon."

Rose gave him a determined, challenging sort of smile and turned around to leave. Al glanced back at Scorpius gave a shrug, gathered his books, and caught up to Rose.

"Hey Rosie? What's the matter? You've been a little off the past few weeks."

"It's just…." Rose hesitated. "It's just stress and tests and such."

"Rosie, you don't sound too convinced about that. And the next test we have isn't for another three days, including the weekend! You'll have plenty of time to study, don't worry about it."

"But Al, Scorpius is already studying for the Charms test and you know that's my worst subject! I need to start studying as soon as possible."

Al grabbed her shoulders and spun her around to face him. "Tell me what's wrong. 'Cause I'm not buying the whole studying thing. You have a schedule, you started studying for it last week didn't you?"

"Uhhh, no…" Rose stared straight ahead as she walked so as not to make eye contact with her cousin. She'd started studying last Thursday, but she needed an excuse to explain why she was acting so weird.

"Please tell me what's wrong Rosie." Albus pleaded. He just could not understand why his cousin had to be so difficult and refuse to talk about what ever was bothering her. He knew she could handle studying, and he knew the look on her face was not stress. It was sadness. There was obviously something else going on.

She sighed frustrated. "You wouldn't understand Al."

He scoffed. "Try me."

Rose just shook her head and walked away leaving her cousin standing and irate in the middle of the hallway.

"Why is everyone so bloody insane?" Al huffed and stormed to his least favorite class, History of Magic.