A/N: I found an amazing piece of fan art. It's exactly what I imagine Rose to look like in this story. It's by an artist named Rhieme. The work is on DeviantArt, but I'm also going to post a link in my profile. I encourage you to check it out.

Chapter 2: The Flashback

April, Fifth Year

"The assignment for the end term is the following: an essay on the advantages and disadvantages of runes in modern German society." A groan rumbled through Professor Babbling's classroom. "I understand this is quite a hefty project, so I will allow partner work." A small cheer of victory. "Of my choosing." A louder moan.

Professor Babbling worked on pairing the teens together, some of the students ecstatic to be paired with best friends, boyfriends or girlfriends, others rolling their eyes as they were forced to work with pupils of their disliking.

Scorpius was of the latter group.

"Malfoy with Weasley!" Babbling yelled over the group of students moving to sit by their partners. Scorpius let out a heavy sigh. Wonderful. I have to work with the one Weasley who never says a word. This should be easy.

He moved to the back corner of the room where his partner sat and gave her a nod as he settled down, which was reciprocated with Rose hunkering closer to her desk, trying to hide her face in the book that lay atop it.

Scorpius rolled his eyes. This was going to be a long two months…

"I was also thinking that we can focus on how runic numbers are utilized in Germany," Scorpius said as he wrote. He sat at a table near the Arithmancy section in the library, across from his partner. The conversation about their project had been rather one-sided, with Scorpius throwing out ideas and Rose either nodding or shaking her head to communicate with him.

Scorpius shook his head in silent frustration before continuing. "For example, the numbers are used to imitate muggle technology. From what I understand, the muggles use boxes called computers that are largely based on the use of numbers. Perhaps we can explore how Germans are working on doing the same thing only using the magical properties of symbols, like for the numbers two and seven-"

"The rune for seven is unknown."

Scorpius looked around for the voice he had just heard. It was soft, but had a pleasant tone. He looked to Rose to see if she was confused about the presence of the voice as well, and was slightly shocked to see her watching him from behind her hair.

"What was that?" he asked cautiously.

Rose cleared her throat and looked down at the table. "The… the rune for seven isn't a known rune."

Scorpius eyes widened with bewilderment. He had known her for five years, was even best friends with her cousin, but had never heard her speak before. He found himself incredibly intrigued.

"Why is that?" he asked, hoping she would continue to talk.

Rose was quiet for a moment. She watched her finger as she ran it along the feather of her quill, avoiding eye contact. "The number seven is a powerfully magical number. Its mysteries haven't yet been solved."

"Hm…" Scorpius responded, thinking both about what she said and that she actually said something. "So you're saying they don't know what the symbol is?"

Rose nodded her head.

"Well maybe we can figure that out for them," he responded, tapping his finger against his mouth. "Maybe it's a combination of symbols."

The silent girl looked up at him, her brow creased in skepticism.

"No, go with me here," Scorpius said excitedly, leaning towards her a little bit. "The symbol for one is a unicorn, and for six it's a salamander, right?"

Rose nodded again, a puzzled expression on her face.

"Maybe seven is a Unimander. Or a salacorn!"

Scorpius saw Rose roll her eyes at his ridiculousness, which he had expected. What he hadn't expected was the smallest smile to grace her face. Curious and encouraged, he continued. "No? Okay. Well three is a Runespoor, and four is a Fwooper…. I got it. Seven is a Fwoopoor."

A small giggle escaped from Rose's lips. She immediately covered her mouth with a hand. "It's not a Fwoopoor."

Scorpius was taken aback by this incredible development. Not only does she talk, but she laughs! He had to make this happen again.

"No? Hm… let me think… two is a Graphorn, and five is a Quintaped…" He snapped his fingers. "I got it. I got it! Seven is a Grapaped!"

A louder laugh came from Rose. It was a beautiful sound-light and airy but full of amusement. A warm feeling filled his stomach as she shook with mirth. He continued, wanting more than anything to hear it again.

"It totally makes sense, Rose! Imagine a quintaped with two huge horns sticking out of its head!"

"That sounds rather terrifying," Rose shook her head as she snickered quietly. "But I don't think that's what seven is."

Scorpius leaned further across the table. His head low, he looked past her curtain of hair and into her eyes for a moment. "Are you sure it's not a Grapaped?" he challenged.

Another soft giggle broke out from Rose. "I'm quite sure."

Scorpius leaned back and sighed. "Oh well. I tried. I suppose the mystery of the number seven will never be solved."

Scorpius watched Rose shake her head again. Her laughter died down, but the smile never left her face. "So, muggle technology…"

Scorpius was on his way to the library to meet Rose so they could put the finishing touches on their project, which they had completed in record time. The assignment went a lot smoother than he originally thought it would, especially since Rose began talking to him.

Scorpius reflected on their time together as he walked. Ever since he heard her first speak and laugh two weeks ago, he felt compelled to do everything he could think of to make it happen again. She never spoke with him in their classes, but in the library, at what he now identified as their table, she was slightly more open to the idea of talking to him about the project, other class work and books they had both read. She never revealed too much about herself, but it was enough to keep Scorpius fascinated. Her voice became intoxicating. Her laughter made his heart skip and his stomach warm pleasantly. Against his will, he found himself developing feelings for his best mate's cousin. Sure, he had been on dates, had a girlfriend or two, but never had he felt for them the way he did about the young woman who was silently invading his thoughts several times a day.

He sighed as he reluctantly opened a door leading into the library. He couldn't imagine she would be too enthusiastic about spending time with him without the excuse of the project, but he didn't want to stop seeing her. He couldn't simply give up her soft voice or deceivingly witty personality. He had to find a way to continue their encounters…

He walked over to the Arithmancy section and set his bag down on the floor before taking a seat.

"Good evening, Rose," he greeted.

She looked up from her book and smiled. "Hello."

He glanced down at the pages of her book, seeing diagrams of wand movement and small text.

He placed his fists on the table, one on top of the other, and settled his chin on them. "What are you studying?"

"Transfigurations," she answered, looking back down at the book. Scorpius knew that she wasn't being rude by giving one word answers; he was used carrying the conversation with her.

Scorpius leaned back in his chair. "Do you have the trans-species transfiguration essay to write as well?"

Rose nodded, never looking up from her book, so she never saw Scorpius' eyes widen and a smile form on his face as an idea popped into his head.

"You know," he started while sitting up, trying to sound slightly doleful, "I'm having a bit of a rough time with that essay, what with the, um, wand movements and all. You wouldn't be able to help me with it, would you?"

Rose glanced up at him quickly, and Scorpius gave the best pleading look he could muster. She bit her lip for a moment, her brow scrunched as she thought. "I don't see why not," she answered, looking back down at her book again.

Scorpius grinned at his cleverness. It was such a shame how much more "difficult" all of his class just became…

Weeks went by, and Scorpius studied with Rose nearly every night in the library. Rose remained a closed book as far as self-disclosure went, but Scorpius picked up on little things about her through observation. He noticed how she was very neat and organized. Her parchment was always straight on her desk and the quills lined up in a certain manner. He imagined her room at her house was probably very similar—perhaps pictures of her family lined up in an orderly fashion on her dresser, her closet full of clothes organized by season and type, her bed always made.

He also began notice how she interacted with her large family. It became evident quickly that Albus was the family member she was most comfortable around. Whenever he would come by their table with a question on his class work, she would respond easily. They could simply chat for a few minutes without her extreme shyness interfering. If another cousin came by with a question, however, she would give short answers and try her best to avoid any sort of contact.

After Roxanne Weasley left their table one evening once receiving reluctant help with a Charms problem, Scorpius decided to be daring and get to the bottom of her cousin quandary.

"I wonder where Al is…" he began. Rose just shrugged her shoulders. "All of these Weasley's around, can't find a single Potter among them…" he continued.

Scorpius saw Rose smirk as she continued to take notes on her parchment. "I'm sure he's around," she said quietly.

He nodded before delving a little deeper. "It seems you two are pretty close," he said, tapping his fingers on the table. Rose, never looking up, shrugged her shoulders again. "Some might even say he's your favorite cousin…"

Rose rolled her eyes and looked up at him. "We just grew up together. Same age and all…" she answered.

"I see," Scorpius commented. He propped his elbow on the table and raised his hand so he could rest his cheek in it. "So you guys spent a lot of time together…. Did you have him over for makeovers? Did you have sleepovers and stay up eating cookie dough and talking about boys all night?"

A snort came from Rose. She dropped her quill and covered her mouth as she silently laughed. "Did we? What makes you think we ever stopped?" she asked through her giggles.

Scorpius chuckled at the thought of his best friend staying up at night, painting his toenails with a large tub of ice cream next to him, and chatting excitingly.

"What boys would you and Al be talking about?" Scorpius asked quickly, energized by her jollity.

He watched as the humor in Rose's face slowly drained. Her eyes shifted all around, but never directly back to him. After a few seconds, she began to quickly pack up her belongings.

Scorpius watched her, confused. "Rose, where-"

"I, um…" she began, but never finished. All her things in her bag, she hastily left the library without a backward glance.

Scorpius watched after her, completely perplexed by what just happened.

The next evening, Scorpius entered the library and joined Rose at their table. He intended on acting like her sudden departure the previous evening never happened and go back to studying and figuring things out about her subtly. He began to pull books out of his bag, watching Rose out of the corner of his eye. She looked up at him as he sat down, then laid her quill on her parchment and folded her hands over it.

"Scorpius."

The teen quickly glanced up at her. She never initiated the conversation…

"What place are you in our year?" she asked softly.

A sinking feeling developed in Scorpius' gut. His plan had been figured out.

"I'm…. I'm second. Right behind you," he answered, exhaling and looking down at the table as he did so.

Rose nodded her head. "Don't you think that your educational talents would be better used to help others in need of tutoring?"

Scorpius looked from the table to her. Her head was bowed down, her hair covering her face. He sat there for a moment, hoping that she would glance up at him, to help him figure out why she was dismissing him so suddenly. He had no such luck.

Scorpius slowly began putting his supplies back into his bag. "I suppose you're right," he said quietly. Bag packed, he stood up and looked at Rose one more time. She kept her eyes steadily on her folded hands. "Goodbye, Rose," he said softly and walked away.

Scorpius didn't see her bow her head as he walked away, wiping a tear that escaped her eye.