Chapter 20 – Priorities

"Wakey, wakey!"

"Rise and shine!"

"What the…" Rose mumbled, cracking open a heavy eyelid. She then proceeded to scream the castle down.

"Alright, alright, calm it!" Dom warned, clamping her cousin's mouth shut. When Rose started getting saliva on her palm, she hastily removed her hand in disgust.

Sitting up and leaning against the headboard, Rose, as politely as possible, enquired, "What the hell are you two doing in my bed?"

She was currently sandwiched in between Lizzie and Dom – it was a miracle they were all able to fit on the one bed – who were both staring at her perturbingly. Rose felt very uncomfortable.

Dom ignored the question. "What happened yesterday, Rose?"

"Er, what do you mean?" she asked nervously. She did not want to think of last night right now. Damn them for waking her up and making her remember. At least when she was unconscious, frolicking in a dreamland involving cute baby unicorns tip-toeing through the tulips or whatever, she could forget.

"Rose," Lizzie began softly, "you came running into the dormitory looking fit for murder and yanked the curtains firmly around your bed, refusing to come out. Somethingmust have happened."

"I don't want to talk about it," she murmured in a small voice. She hated how wobbly her voice sounded. She hated how pathetic and fragile she felt, just like that time after the ball… Something unpleasant lodged itself in her throat, making breathing a difficult task.

"This is so obviously to do with Scorpius," Lizzie commented with a sigh. Rose glanced up at her curiously.

"He's the only one that can make you like… this," Dom explained. She gestured at Rose's appearance: almost-pouting lips, downcast eyes and sagging shoulders.

Rose sighed too. "I saw him with Scarlett," she mumbled, "and they looked like they were gonna kiss, so I… ran away."

Lizzie gasped, chocolate eyes enlarging. "You poor thing."

Dom raised a blonde eyebrow. "So you didn't wait to see if they actually kissed?" Rose shook her head. Dom gave out a little laugh. "This sounds just like what happened in the Fifi LaFolle novel I'm reading."

"What happened next?" Rose asked, curious. Not that she wanted relationship advice from Fifi LaFolle of all people, of course; she was simply interested. Plus, those books wereancient – her grandma would've read them, if she had been into that sort of thing...

At least, that's what she told herself.

"The main character, Anastasia, ran off with the guy's older – and far better-looking, I might add – brother," Dom replied idly. "But anyway, Scorpius doesn't have a brother, so that plan's out of the question. He does have a rather fit father, though…"

"Okay firstly: EW," Rose said, pulling a face. "Secondly: I am not running off with anyone. My life is not a Fifi LaFolle novel, however exciting that would be."

"So what are you going to do?" asked Lizzie, resting a hand on Rose's shoulder.

"I don't know," she replied in earnest. "But right now I have zero tolerance for this extra drama and I just want to get my NEWTs done and dusted. Now, uh, do you two creepers mind getting off my bed?"

"Fair enough," Dom yawned, getting up and stretching, "but Malfoy is waiting outside the common room to speak to you."

"What?!" Rose cried. "He's… he's outside right now? And you never thought to let me know this earlier?"

"He's been there for a while," Lizzie added helpfully. "Best not keep him waiting, eh?"

"But you might want to brush your teeth first. Just a thought," Dom piped in.

Rose, rolling her eyes, quickly scrambled out of bed and into bathroom. With toothpaste dribbling down her chin, she re-entered the dorm and said indignantly, "Wait, why should I? I don't want to speak to him."

Lizzie was the first to answer. "Because you ought to hear him out. At least see what he has to say."

I saw what he was about to do with my own eyes,she thought bitterly. However, she reluctantly decided she would go to see him but only for a few minutes. She did have studying to do, after all.

Fully clad in a dressing gown and fuzzy blue slippers, along with sparkly clean teeth, she journeyed through the (fortunately empty) common room to see him. Before opening the portrait hole she paused to collect herself. He might not even be there – probably got bored with waiting.

"Scorpius?" she said quietly once she had passed through the portrait and came across a blonde boy with his back slouched against the wall a little way off. When he turned to look at her she suddenly felt very foolish in her Pygmy Puff dressing gown and bunny slippers. What had she been thinking?

She also couldn't help but notice the concerning purple bruises below his eyes. Someonehadn't been sleeping well.

"Oh, hi! I, uh –"

"You wanted to talk?" She tapped her foot impatiently, despite her being nervous about whatever he had to say.

"Yeah." He swallowed. "What you saw was – well, I understand how it couldhave looked, and that would look bad, I mean, if I saw you in that position, I would instantly assume –"

"Listen," Rose cut in, unimpressed, "I've got stuff to do, so I can't be here all day. Plus, I'm attracting some weird looks from the surrounding portraits."

She quickly looked away from a surly-looking dark-haired man, situated in a medieval portrait, who was giving her the same look she herself was giving Scorpius only a few moments before.

The traces of a smirk crossed his lips. "Well, you are wearing Pygmy Puff PJ's – wait. Sorry. Rose, this is going to sound completely daft, but… do you fancy being my girlfriend?"

Well. Where had that come from?

His face had gone alarmingly red and he refused to look at her. Instead, he stared intently at the ends of his robes grazing the stone floor. If he didlook, he would have seen that Rose's face was almost as red as his; the tips of her ears were ablaze whilst her pulse began to quicken.

The strangest thought occurred to her: why did he choose now to ask her out, as she stood there with morning hair, sporting the completely 'natural' look and old, unflattering pyjamas on?

Boy must be confounded.

"Excuse me?" she choked out.

He looked up, startled by her harsh tone.

"You – you think I'd go out with you now, after watching you spend so much time with Scarlett recently? I would never go out with you! What kind of girl do you think I am, Scorp?"

The both of them were horrified to find her eyes welling up.

"Well – you – but I'm not with Scarlett."

She let out a long shaky breath. "You may as well be."

"No, it's just that she's –"

Rose raised her hand to cut him off. "Ill. I get it. Look, just… leave it, alright? I don't want to go out with you."

She chanced a look up at his face to gauge his reaction. Hurt. Frustration. Embarrassment. Mostly just hurt.

"I can't deal with this right now, I've got exams to prepare for. I gotta go."

She whipped round and he attempted to follow, but she blocked him off at the portrait as she uttered the password.

"Bye Scorpius," she muttered as the portrait closed shut behind her.

In that moment, a wild Dom appeared. "You can't keep messing up someone else's feelings just because you're unsure of your own, Malfoy!" she yelled after him before slamming the portrait shut a final time.

"Excuse me, young lady! Have some respect!" the Fat Lady cried in outrage, obviously rattled at the mistreatment of the portrait in which she lived.

Rose worked hard through her final exams, ever the diligent student. By then she was an expert at putting unwanted thoughts to the back of her mind. Whilst the majority of the other seventh years were almost certainly partying away to celebrate the end of exams, Rose had a well-deserved rest and a lovely long bath in the Prefect's Bathroom, thanks to her connections (Hayley, Lizzie's cousin, was a prefect and let slip the password). All she could do now was relax and wait until results day, which, although it seemed a lifetime away, would no doubt creep up on her and strike before she knew it.

An excited atmosphere was starting to replace the burned-out one at Hogwarts and it was catching, even more so when Professor McGonagall announced an end-of-year prom. They even each got a formal invitation to attend, created by the Head boy and Head girl.

"I am so bloody excited!" screeched Dom, maiming Rose's ear in the process, as did the rest of the girls in their final year of Hogwarts. "We only had a ball a few months ago, and we get another one already! How lucky are we?"

"Very lucky," Rose smiled, Lizzie nodding in agreement. Rose truly was looking forward to it; feeling like a million galleons for an evening sounded good to her. She couldn't help but remember how the last ball had ended in tears, though, not to mention how she was very unlikely to have a date for this one…

Rose decided not to tell anyone that Scorpius had asked her out and her subsequent refusal (also known as the Most Awkward Moment of Her Life So Far). She felt heat pooling into her cheeks just thinking about it, let alone talking about it.

He hadn't sought her out, letting her complete her exams in peace, and for that she was grateful. Now that they were over, however, should she try and patch things up with him? Or was she better off without him..?

No. She definitely didn't believe that. They had got on so well before their stupid feelings had to go and get in the way.

A tap to the head pulled her out of her thoughts; a piece of parchment scrunched up into a ball landed on the table in front of her. Unravelling it, she read:

R.W.
Meet me outside the kitchens in ten minutes. It's urgent.
S.B.

Who the hell was S.B.?

The only person that came to mind was Sirius Black, but... well, he had passed away a long time ago.

"Guess there's only one way to find out," Rose muttered under her breath as she stood up and exited the Great Hall.

Surprisingly, Scarlett was leaning against the wall when Rose arrived outside the kitchen with her wand hidden up her sleeve (her imagination was very… vivid and she wanted to be able to defend herself if worst came to the worst).

"Scarlett?" Rose sputtered, recoiling at the sight of her. "What could you possibly need to speak to me about that's so urgent?"

Rose wondered whether she was going to hex her into oblivion to ensure Scorpius would be hers forever, or something. Trying to take on a seventh year would be dumb; she wouldn't put it past Scarlett.

"You and Scorpius have fallen out," she declared.

"Erm…"

"Because you think there's something going on between me and him, so you yelled at him, wounded his ego and now you two won't speak to each other," Scarlett finished. "Am I right, or am I right?"

"Excuse me, what do you think gives you the right to get involved in my life?" demanded Rose frostily, hands on hips and all.

Scarlett let out a frustrated sigh. "Look, all I wanted to say is this: nothing's going on between me and your precious Scorpius."

"Oh, don't give me that," Rose snapped. "I saw you two together, kissing."

Scarlett shook her head with her lips curved into a sad smile. "Nope. Okay, so I may have pecked him on the cheek or something, but only in thanks for helping me. That''s the only reason I'm telling you all this now- he deserves to be happy, and for that to happen, you need to understand the truth. Merlin, I'm not so desperate that I'd go round trying to get a boy who quite obviously likes someone else."

Rose's eyes, cold as ice, narrowed. "What do you mean?" Who do you mean? Me?

"Oh, sod off, you know who I mean."

Rose raised her eyebrows.

"Are you stupid or something?" Scarlett spat. Rose couldn't stop herself from blushing. "Do I have to spell it out for you?"

"I would appreciate that, yes."

Scarlett rolled her eyes.

"Scarlett, you've always been all over Scorpius. I know what you're like, and you're so-called illness is the perfect opportunity for him to get all into his Healer mode and spend time with you and whatnot, and before you know it, bam; he's proposed." It was Rose's turn to roll her eyes.

"'So-called illness'? You may not know this about me, but I actually suffer from severe manic depression." She said it completely seriously as if it was some huge secret, which may have been comical in other circumstances, but Rose didn't even crack a smile. Of course she'd known it all along (or, at least, guessed it), but only now was she really starting to understand and feel sorry for Scarlett's suffering. She'd never really thought of Scarlett's bipolar as an illness before, just part of her crazy personality.

"They thought they'd found a cure at St Mungo's but I got a letter from my Healer recently and– nope, false alarm. Of course." She sighed deeply. "I really, really thought I'd be rid of it for once in my pathetic life."

"Hey, it could be worse, right?" Rose said unsurely, feeling more than a little awkward. "You don't have, like, dragon pox or anything fatal like that." Was that the right thing to say?

"You don't understand. I have these… manic episodes that are really hard to cope with. But the deep depression periods are even worse; you wouldn't want to know the kind of things that run through my mind. And sometimes I feel both at once and the ridiculous amounts of emotion are tough enough to deal with. I've had a lot more of them leading up to my NEWT mocks– my Healer says it's due to the extra stress or something – but either way it's not been fun or healthy for me.

"Scorpius was the only person that knew about them, so he was there to listen and stuff. He's a really good listener. And even then, he managed to mention you in conversation a few times. It is so obvious he likes you." Cue: more blushing, Rose Weasley style. "Merlin knows why, mind. So, to summarize: Scorpius and I are merely FRIENDS. F-R-I-E-N-D-S. He's helped me through a lot – calmed me down, taken me to Madam Pomfrey, been supportive and stuff. He's a really great guy. You're lucky, you know. For Salazar's sake, I can't believe I'm the one having to tell you this."

Right. Well, that changed things.

Rose felt ridiculously stupid and guilty, but very relieved at the same time. She also felt a burst of pride for Scorpius; trust him to care so much for an ex-girlfriend in need. Maybe part of her had always believed there was more to the story…

Then she realised they were both standing there in silence with Scarlett morosely picking dirt out of her nails and she had yet to respond to her heart-felt confession.

"Are you, er, getting on alright with it all?" Rose asked tentatively. She was not good in these situations. She definitely wasn't made to be a Healer- she'd leave all that to Scorpius.

Scarlett shrugged. "I s'pose. I feel pretty fine right now, in this moment, thanks to heavy doses of medication… but who knows the next time an episode will strike?"

Rose didn't know how to reply. Scarlett let out a long sigh.

"A-ny-way, I don't want your pity or anything, I'm coping just fine. Oh, and if you tell anyone, you're dead."

If the fierce look on Scarlett's face was anything to go by, Rose guessed that the threat was not at all empty.

Scarlett checked her watch. "Alright, I'm done here. I'm ten minutes late for potions now – Totternhoe's gonna kill me. Thanks a lot," she spat, rolling her eyes, before strolling down the corridor, heels clacking obnoxiously against the stone floor.

Luckily, Rose had a free period. She wasted no time in jogging all the way up to the seventh floor and coming to halt right outside the closed classroom door labelled '7A'. She was gasping for breath and felt rather like a sweaty tomato by the time she got there. She was unfortunate enough to pass Peeves the poltergeist on the way there who wasn't afraid to chortle in her face and let her know exactly what she looked like.

"Come on Rose, man up," she muttered under her breath when her legs suddenly turned to lead and she just could not force herself into that classroom. "Where's that Gryffindor courage when you need it?"

She was just considering dousing herself in the face with some nice icy water when the door flung open and out came Bertie McGee, the weird guy from her Muggle Studies class, looking quite alarmed at almost crashing into a living, breathing, giant tomato.

"Oh, hello there, Rose! I was just off to little gentlemen's room," he said after a short pause. "You're looking rather… vegetable-y."

"A tomato is a fruit, actually," she retorted breathlessly. "Everyone knows that."

After an indignant huff sent in Bertie's direction, she marched into the Arithmancy classroom and came to a halt near the Professor's desk, turning to face the whole class. There were about twelve students present, all seated towards the back of the room leaving the front ones vacated, and she soon spotted Scorpius after catching his voice, laughing loudly at something Al had said. She'd missed that laugh.

Gaping stupidly, she stood there as the seventh years paused mid-conversation to stare at her, faces contorted in curiosity and confusion. She ignored them all. Finally, after what felt like hours, Scorpius looked up and their eyes locked for the first time in weeks. His face was serious, jaw set and eyes unwavering, and the intensity took her by surprise. She felt a swooping sensation in her stomach.

"Can I help you, young lady?" enquired the Arithmancy professor, peering over her copy of the Daily Prophet.

"Oh – er – sorry – I'm disturbing your lesson."

In reality, they were just dossing – chatting and playing wizard hang man on scrap bits of parchment – while Professor Vector skimmed an article (the Weird Sisters to reunite after a long fifteen years apart!) Exams were over and it was one of their last lessons of their last year at Hogwarts, after all. But Rose was too polite (and in a slightly agitated state) to point that out.

"Yes, you are."

"Sorry." Rose let out a nervous little squeak that loosely resembled a giggle. "But there's something I really need to say."

Professor Vector raised a greying eyebrow. "Well, by all means, feel free to share it with the class."

Her tongue turned to sandpaper as perspiration trickled down her cheek. She suddenly realised how attractive she must've looked at that moment and, to help the cause, turned even redder.

"I just wanted to tell Scorpius," she began, looking straight at the puzzled boy in question, "that I have been informed of the truth about the whole Scarlett misunderstanding."

"I'm listening," Scorpius replied, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms in a careless, easy way.

Rose fidgeted nervously with the frayed ends of her jumper sleeve. "I heard the truth, and I'm really sorry for being so stupid about the whole thing after everything that's happened. I swear this is the last time I act irrationally and don't ask for your side of the story."

Scorpius still looked impassive, not even blinking, lips parted slightly as he stared at her. Rose wondered whether his eyes were aching for moisture and he was just trying to out-stare her, or if he just had super-human eyeballs. The latter wouldn't have surprised her.

The rest of the class, including the professor, were glancing between the two of them with mild interest. The attention made Rose feel a bit silly, as if she was just a form of entertainment. Which, to them, she was.

"And... I also wanted to ask if we can start over? Again? You know, third time lucky and all that."

After an excruciatingly long pause, Scorpius rose from his seat and walked over to her at the front of the classroom, studying her with gradually softening eyes. "You sure this time?" he asked. "We'll work harder to get over our communication issues?"

Rose, rolling her eyes, nodded.

"In that case, the answer is yes," he answered, eyes twinkling. "Rose, I sincerely hope you know by now that it's always been you. Not Poppy, not Scarlett; you."

Those were the words that set off the fireworks in her heart. She was grinning like a fool as the whole class erupted into a chorus of 'aww's and Albus could be heard letting out a sigh of relief. Rose wasn't even aware of their audience anymore.

"It's always been you too," she stated simply, stepping towards him and enveloping her arms around his neck; his arms tightly wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer. "I've never really had much choice in the matter."

"As touching as this little scene is, this is a classroom for learning, not the Witches' Romance Hour on the WWN," Professor Vector interrupted loftily with a hint of mirth in her voice.

"Yes Professor, sorry Professor." Scorpius grabbed Rose's hand (and Al chucked him his bag) and they exited the classroom.

"You're just walking out of a lesson?" Rose asked amusedly with a cocked eyebrow.

"Sure. What are they gonna do, expel me?"

Rebellious. I like it. She smirked to herself, and together they set off down the corridor.

"What are you smirking about?" he asked, peering at her curiously.

"Nothing." She smiled up at him innocently.

"You know, Rose, I really need to apologize," he said once they'd reached a cul-de-sac and decided to stop there.

"What for?"

"For being a bit of a prick. Look, I like you. A lot. I've told you before and I'll tell you again: I. Like. You. I can't contain this any longer; you're everywhere I go, always in my head, and it is driving me crazy. I've passed you a ridiculous amount of hints, but you're always too clueless to notice!"

Surely it's impossible for a heart to beat this fast? Rose thought idly as she stared at Scorpius in a daze.

He continued on, "I've liked you for a while, you know. I was just too chicken to admit it. So… yeah."

He'd liked her for a while? Did that mean even before the ball and while he was with Poppy and Scarlett? The air whooshed out of her lungs, leaving her breathless.

Before she knew it, he was leaning in towards her, faces far too close, and she instantly pulled back before anything could happen. She stared at him in alarm.

"Please say something, your silence is making me uncomfortable," he pleaded, brushing his fringe off his forehead.

She bit her lip as she thought about what to say. "Sometimes, I don't know if I trust you, Scorpius."

His eyebrows furrowed. "Wha – "

"I want to, I really do," she continued quickly. "But how you've treated me recently… I just don't know anymore."

"What do you mean?" he asked quietly, obviously upset.

"You've put Scarlett before me multiple times, not to mention stringing me along but failing to break up with her. But why?"

"Because I'm a stupid idiot, that's why!" he exclaimed.

"That's true… but no, really? Why go out with Scarlett in the first place?"

"I… well… you know, to play the jealousy card, so you knew what you were missing!" he blustered. She recoiled from his not-so-dulcet tone. "Well, at first anyway. A terrible, selfish reason, but it's true. But then I found out about her illness – did she tell you about that?"

"Yeah… wait, so you were basically using her? To get to me?" she asked incredulously. Scarlett was this beautiful Quidditch star whilst Rose, in her own humble opinion, was pretty plain with no spectacular talents. And yet Scarlett was the one who got used. She found it hard to get her head around.

Scorpius nodded, guilty eyes avoiding eye contact.

"But then she needed someone to look after her, being as weak and vulnerable as she was. I know, I know –" he added hastily at her expression, "she doesn't seem like it, but she is. She's ill. I wanted to break up with her, but she was at her very lowest and I guess I felt too cruel even thinking about it. I was... cowardly? Worried? Idiotic?"

"Sounds about right," Rose frowned.

"I've learnt from that now. I didn't treat you right and I made some stupid decisions, I know that. And I regret it. But unless you have a time turner on you, I can't exactly change the past now, can I?"

She shook her head sadly.

"I'm really, really sorry. And those aren't just some words – I mean it. Honestly, you mean so much more to me than Scarlett and I'm sorry if I haven't acted like it. I'm not perfect – hell, everyone makes mistakes and bad choices and I hope you'll accept that – but from here on out I want to make it up to you. Will you let me do that?"

His hopeful face was scrunched up in concentration as he waited for her answer. He looked as if whatever she said next would have the power to change everything. The ticks from the clock on the wall seemed to echo around them, unbearably loud.

She couldn't form words; she didn't know how she could possibly put what she was feeling into a coherent sentence. So instead, she took a few steps towards him so that they were less than a foot apart, close enough for her stomach to flood with butterflies and knees to turn to jelly, and looked into his pale grey eyes with a dopey smile on her face. He had his answer. Slowly, almost teasingly slow, she cupped his face with her hands and brought her face closer and closer to his until their lips were finally melded together.

Every nerve in her body was positively fizzing with energy, and every logical thought vaporised into hazy swirls as his hands reacted instantly of their own accord: one thrust into her hair and the other resting on her waist. She moved one hand from his cheek to the back of his neck to pull him even closer to her. Rose was in her happy place again; nothing else existed but the two of them caught up in each other. She just felt so ecstatic and free, like she was on top of the tallest mountain and if she reached up high enough, her fingertips could graze the soft blue watercolour of the sky. There were no consequences, now. No guilt. She was unable to stop a smile from forming which grew and grew until it was practically a toothy grin.

"I'm glad you're happy and all, but it's getting hard to kiss you when you're smiling so widely," Scorpius murmured, pulling away for a second to smirk at her beaming face. She let out a giggle before composing herself and pressing her lips urgently to his once more.

After all that pining and longing, she was finally kissing him without any guilt whatsoever.

And then they were pulling apart and it was over much too soon.

He stayed close, breathing hard, leaning his forehead against hers. "Does that mean you like me back, then?" he asked teasingly. She nodded and smiled coyly at him.

"I'm willing to try this out, but I don't want to be so low on your priority list this time, alright?" she said warningly.

"Of course. And if I do – which I won't – feel free to kick me. Hard. Where the sun don't shine."

"I'll be holding you on that one."

He shook his head in amusement. "All those months when we both liked each other, but neither would admit it, we could have spent more wisely."

"I swear you're more clueless than I am, though; I mean it was pretty clear to entire school that I wanted you to ask me to that stupid ball!"

"Ah, the ball that changed everything. Good times," he mused. "I was waiting for the right moment to ask you, but there was part of me that was so sure you'd say no. And then Poppy asked me to go with her, and that kind of foiled my plans completely."

"You just can't say no, can you?"

"I'm not very good at it," he admitted, "but I'd like to think I'm getting better."

"I think you are too," she said, resting her head on his chest. He tucked some loose strands of hair behind her ear. "But if we ever have children, I can already tell that you're going to spoil them rotten."

She realised what was spurting out of her mouth too late and snapped her head up to look at him, wide-eyed, apologetic, but he just smiled amusedly.

"So when exactly did you realise you liked me? Was it before the ball?" Rose said quickly, desperate to change the subject.

He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Truthfully, I liked you the day I met you in first year. What can I say? -you're an intelligent, friendly person." Rose glowed with pleasure. "But, y'know, I was eleven years old. It was sometime in sixth year when I started wondering what it'd be like to kiss you. I couldn't get you out of my mind during the summer holiday, it was torture. Just imagine: me sitting on the sofa with my grandmother as she tells me fond memories of grandfather who was lying on his death bed, while all I can think about is you." He looked at her appraisingly. "When did you start liking me?"

Rose started to blush before she even answered the question. "I honestly have no idea. I've had on and off little crushes and stuff. For real, though? Probably around the beginning of this year."

She was about to mention all the strange, slightly creepy dreams she'd had that nearly all of which had co-starred him (the main star being the giant rubber duck, of course), but decided against it as she really didn't want to scare him off so soon.

"So, um, I really respect and admire you, Rose, and I was wondering… do you want to be my girlfriend?" he asked, shaky voice brimming with hope. Rose wondered briefly whether he was thinking of the same thing she was, of that awful moment merely weeks ago when he had asked her the same thing, but out of the blue and with horrible timing.

"I'd love to," she replied eagerly, and he started to kiss her again, but slower and gentle this time, to seal the deal.

They heard a pair of footsteps approaching but took no notice of it; it wasn't past curfew and they were only kissing. It's not like there was a school rule forbidding it or anything - or at least, not that they knew of. So, of course, they were very surprised when a deep voice belted out an angry, "Oi!"

For Merlin's sake, who could this be? Rose thought, pulling back from Scorpius's warm lips.

"What do you think you're doing with my sister?" Hugo roared, folding his arms across his chest, looking aghast.

Rose flushed instantly; it was a pretty embarrassing situation for your little brother to catch you in.

"Kissing," Scorpius replied without delay, like it was the most obvious thing in the world, looking amused but also kind of annoyed at being interrupted. He kept his hands firmly on her lower back.

"But – Scarlett – you – no!" Hugo's face was turning an interesting shade of mauve. "Rose, I sincerely hope you know what you're doing."

"Don't worry, Hugh, I do," she replied in her most reassuring voice. "Scorpius is my boyfriend now."

Merlin's most baggy Y-fronts… that felt good to say. He's my boyfriend! Rose thought cheerfully.

"Alright. But you -" he looked sternly at Scorpius, "I'm going to be having a little talk with you later, got that?"

"Sure, Hugo," Scorpius replied, suppressing a chuckle. "Looking forward to it."

Hugo gave him an I'm Watching You hand gesture before strolling away after one last menacing glare over his shoulder.

"Wait, Hugo!" Rose called after him.

"What?" He turned around to look at her from the other end of the corridor.

"Er, don't tell Mum or Dad about this, will you? Especially not Dad… they don't need to know about this just yet."

"Alright," came his gruff reply after a pregnant pause.

Once he was out of sight, Rose caught Scorpius's eye and they both erupted into sniggers.

A/N: We finally reached the big 2-0! I did not mean for it to get so long, but I was having so much fun writing it, haha. I hope it wasn't cringey. ~nervous to post it.~ Hopefully this qualified for the 'talk things out' thing that some of you have been asking for but if you're confused about something or think there's something I should add, please just say. I hope you enjoyed it & thanks for reading!

Next chapter: end-of-year festivities!

Disclaimer: I stole the 'a wild Dom appears' idea from Pokémon :P Couldn't resist!