A/N: I'm really sorry for the lack of update. But now that I have a break, I'll do my best to update faster. I just hope there are still people who read and review this story.

Disclaimer: All characters belong to JK Rowling.

CHAPTER 20

"Are you two ready?"

"Why can't we just Accio the rose?"

The blond boy turned to the brown-haired one. "I've done it twice already. People might notice something weird is going on if there's another rose flying into this room."

Albus snorted. "It's already weird that a rose is flying into a bloke's room. But really, it's midnight!" He unconsciously raised his voice, earning himself a shove from his brother. "I don't think people would notice anything. They're too tired."

"And you're too noisy," James added. "Someone might hear us."

"Well if you put Muffliato, then people wouldn't hear a thing," Albus hissed.

"Well I thought we wouldn't have any more discussion."

Scorpius looked from one boy to another. "Why are we wasting time fighting over a small thing, when we could actually go to the greenhouse now?"

James sighed. "He's right. We'd better go now."

"But James, are you really sure that we wouldn't get caught?" Albus asked for the umpteenth time that night. He's never been out of his dorm after curfew.

The older boy smirked. "Trust me on this, Al. I've been doing this with my friends a lot of times. And we've never got caught so far." He nodded his head frantically, trying to persuade his brother to trust him.

Albus still looked doubtful. "What if, of all nights, we got caught tonight? How are you going to explain to Mum and Dad?"

"Okay, first of all, you," James pointed his finger at him, "are also going to explain to them if something happens." Before Albus could open his mouth to retort, he continued, "Second, we are not going to get caught. Will you please stop worrying over nothing?"

He gasped. "This is not nothing!" He immediately lowered his voice. "We are going outside at midnight when any teachers, ghosts, or Prefects are wandering around the castle. Will you please tell me why I should stop worrying about this?"

Scorpius quickly closed his friend's mouth by covering it with his right hand, whereas James hit him none too gently on the arm.

"Did you really have to shout, mate?" Scorpius hissed.

Albus could only narrow his eyes at him.

"We are not going to get caught," James repeated slowly so the information would go into his brother's head. "If you keep on worrying like that, we would definitely get caught." He tapped him on the forehead several times. "Keep that in your head, all right?"

Albus nodded, finally giving in. He pushed Scorpius' hand away from his mouth. "So when are we going?"

"As soon as you're calm and collected."

He narrowed his eyes at Scorpius again. "I am."

"Okay, let's go then." James got up from the bed and walked towards the door, followed by Albus and Scorpius behind him. Just before he opened the door, he seemed to remember something and turned around to face his younger friends. "If someone asks us where we're going, let me handle it. Okay?"

The others nodded their heads. And off they went to the Common Room. It wasn't a surprise that it's almost empty, save for two or three students. And thankfully none of them was Rose or anyone they knew. In a slow pace (and hopefully, in a calm pace too), they crossed the big room. Just as they passed a really small group of students whose noses were stuck into their books, they heard a question coming from one of them.

"Where are you three going?"

Scorpius felt like his chest was about to burst at the sudden question. It came in a whisper, but it was just as sharp as a normal question Rose would ask him in a broad daylight.

"Calm down," James whispered at him before he turned around to see who asked the question. He widened his eyes at the sight of his older cousin, but immediately recovered from the shock and put on a fake smile. "Dom, I didn't see you there."

"Well, I like to keep myself hidden," Dominique joked, a smile on her face. "So, where are you three going at midnight?" She looked from Albus to Scorpius, and back to James.

"Taking a walk," James answered, looking calm and collected. It was as if he'd done this many times and always got stopped on the way out. "The room was too boring, so we decided to go outside."

Scorpius swore he saw her looking at him as she smirked.

"Well, just be careful. I don't want to explain to your parents just because I'm one of the witnesses here."

James grinned. "Of course, sis. We'll see you later." With an energetic (albeit a bit fake) wave to her, he grabbed his friends' arms and turned around to continue their journey to the door leading to the castle. "So far so good, don't you think?"

"Yeah, I suppose so," Albus mumbled.

As soon as they were outside the Common Room, Scorpius turned to the other two. "Was it just me or did she smirk at me after James answered her question?"

James waved a dismissive hand at him. "Don't worry about it. She always does that because she thinks she knows where we're going." He then started walking; eyes checking every dark corner to make sure nobody was around. "Let's go."

Albus grabbed his brother's wrist. "Hang on, 'always does that'? You mean she always catches you when you're going out with your friends after curfew?"

"Well, she knows that I always go out at this time with my friends. She doesn't ask me anymore though, mainly because we've never been caught and she knows we could take care of ourselves."

"Then, why did she ask us just now?"

James turned to Scorpius. "Because you two are coming with me." He then looked at his brother, before looking at the blond boy again. "So are there any other questions? If not, we have to go now. Before anyone comes."

After a pair of headshakes from both Albus and Scorpius, they started their careful journey to the greenhouse. Since it was his first time to be sneaking out after midnight (walking back from the library to the dorm like he often did didn't count because he had an excuse that he had finished studying late), his heart was beating like a drum. His hands were all sweaty from anxiety. He swore a drop of sweat was trickling down his back.

He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding as they finally reached Greenhouse number 1. It took a few minutes for his heart to start beating normally.

James laughed at the sight of his two nervous companions. "Calm down, will you?" he said. "We're here. Now all we need to find is the rose."

A half hour later, they found themselves sitting on top of Scorpius' bed with the curtain drawn. This time, a Muffliato was cast on the curtain so none of the sleeping roommates would find out what they were doing. They spoke in hushed voices, just for extra measure.

"Are you ready, Scor?"

Scorpius just looked at the two stems of roses in his hands. He shook his head and muttered a "No".

"Come on," Albus started to whine. "Don't be like this again. Do you remember when you had to write her initials on a quill?" His voice started to rise. "Do you remember how long it took for you to finally grab your wand and do it?"

James smacked his brother's arm. "You really need to work on your voice when we're supposed to be quiet." He shook his head as he narrowed his eyes. "We put Muffliato, yes. But that doesn't mean you can shout at a small space like this."

Albus placed his hand on top of the spot where he just got hit by James. "Okay, fine. I'm sorry," he whispered. "But I'm serious. Scorpius has to do it now because he might take an hour to contemplate whether to do it or not. And we have an early class this morning."

Scorpius sighed and grabbed his wand. "Okay, I'm ready." He gave James one of the roses and kept one in his hand. He suddenly looked up. "What's the spell again? I forgot."

James rolled his eyes and told him the spell. "Come on; don't waste any more time. I want to go to sleep after this."

"You know you can go to sleep now. You don't have to wait for me."

"And leave you here alone with Albus? No," James replied. "I'm the only one here who knows how 'Everlasting Rose' looks like. You might even end up staying up trying to figure out whether you succeeded or not."

"He's right, you know," Albus said. "So, let's go. Just do it like what we did in our countless practices."

Scorpius took deep breaths several times, readying himself. Putting the rose in front of his eyes, he closed his eyes and let out a breath again to calm himself. He opened his eyes and started flicking his wand in a complicated way as he muttered the spell. A few seconds later, he finished and immediately gave the rose to Albus. As much as he wanted to see the outcome, he looked away. "How'd I do?"

"Excellent!" Albus made a comment, causing Scorpius to look at him. "He succeeded, right?" He turned to his older brother.

James took the flower from him and nodded in agreement. "It worked!" he said as he grinned at his friend. "You did it, mate. In one try!"

Scorpius put on the widest smile as he was proud he could make something in one shot. He stared at the now-bright-pink rose on his friend's hand. He was so happy that without thinking twice, he suddenly stood up from his bed and took the rose, surprising the brothers. "I'm going to the Owlery now."

"Now?" echoed James. "But it's late. What if you get caught?"

"I won't," he replied. Before the brothers could respond, he was out of the dorm.

Less than 15 minutes later, Scorpius returned. This time, there wasn't a smile on his face as it should be after finally sending a gift to Rose. There was only a confused look plastered as the others noticed in the room.

"You're supposed to be happy like you were before you left," said Albus.

"What happened?" James asked. "Did you see something?"

Scorpius scratched his head. "I saw Dominique again downstairs." He looked at the brothers. "She actually smirked at me again when I came in." He paused. "Do you think she knew what we're doing?"

James shook his head, although he looked unsure. "I don't think so. I mean, from where would she know about it? Nobody but us knew." He then looked at his brother. "Unless …"

Albus blinked; he was taken aback by the sudden accusation. "What? I didn't do anything. I didn't tell anybody about this."

The older brother just smirked at his panicky behaviour. And they both started 'fighting' with each other, despite the confined space and Scorpius just sitting still at the head of the bed.

A few seconds passed and suddenly Scorpius had his eyes wide open again, seemingly remembered something. He immediately broke up the fight by hitting the brothers on the legs repetitively. "She was there."

James and Albus' playful fight slowly came to a stop and they both sat in their original position. With their heads tilted in confusion, they asked him simultaneously, "Who was there?"

"Dominique," he answered, before slowly turning to face them. "She was there in the Common Room when we were supposed to do that homework a few nights ago." He paused. "When we were talking about 'Everlasting Rose'."

"Are you sure?" James asked. "I mean it could have been someone else."

Scorpius looked at him with a frown on his face. "I'm sure it was her, because I remember she was sitting on the same spot as just now." He paused again, trying to remember the scene that night. His eyes got even wider, if possible. "And she was with Rose."

A/N: Thanks for reading. Don't forget to review

Til next time..