If you had asked Albus Potter between the age of eleven and fourteen if his cousin Rose had a heart, he would have answered no, definitely not.

But just as he had matured over the past 3 years, so had Rose. After his fourth year, she had become quite tender with him. Still confident, yes, but tender. She would sit with him through the summer nights at the Burrow when he couldn't sleep, the nightmares plaguing him. They would talk as if they were children again despite his nightmares about murdered boys and murdered parents.

His cousin Rose was confident and bossy, and quite rightly so, but she was not heartless.

So, Albus thought as he made his way to the infirmary at six o'clock in the morning, maybe I shouldn't be trying to see if I'm right if I already know the answer.

The evening before, Scorpius had been moderately injured in a duelling club incident by a thuggish Scottish Gryffindor named Tom. He had been briefly made unconscious which, considering how he had been thrown back against a wall, didn't surprise Albus. What did surprise Albus, however, was that Rose had thrown Albus out of the way as she struggled to get to Scorpius. Rose Granger-Weasley - actually frightened, he thought in disbelief.

"Scorpius? Scorpius? Someone! You!" She grabbed a frightened third-year. "Go and get Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey! Now!" She bent down beside Scorpius, holding his head up.

"He'll wake up Rose," Albus said, although he seemed unsure at first. He hadn't ever dealt with duelling accidents, really. But his father had been an Auror and he did know the difference between serious and non-serious injuries. "It happens with duels, honestly. He'll wake up soon."

Rose looked at him, her face pale. She then turned and looked up at Tom, her mouth forming into a snarl. "You!" She said. "You knew what you were doing when you performed that hex! How could you be so - so - careless!"

"Right, Head-Girl, that's a pretty large accusation to make!"

"Albus, take Scorpius's head for me - or lie him down!" Rose said as Albus fumbled with Scorpius. Rose stood up, moving towards Tom like he was prey. "A pretty large accusation? I'll have you know that I'm planning to go into the legal division at the Ministry once we graduate next month and I can assure you that it's not a 'pretty large accusation!'"

"A position that your mother got you!"

Albus carefully gave Scorpius to another student and hauled himself up.

"Rose…" He said cautiously, placing a hand on his shoulder. She shook it off.

"How dare you!" She yelled. "You don't understand how hard I've work for what I've achieved! With everyone thinking that - that I haven't earned it! That I've inherited it! How dare you! You - You -"

Thankfully, Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall interrupted them and took Scorpius away. Rose and Albus anxiously followed - Albus quietly, Rose barking to McGonagall about what Tom had done.

"Miss Granger-Weasley, while I will deal with Tom thoroughly in due course, I have already told you that now is not the appropriate time!"

"But Tom -"

Rose was interrupted by the appearance of Draco Malfoy storming around the hallway corner.

"Where is Scorpius, Minevra? Is he alright?" Draco turned to Albus. "Have you seen Scorpius? Is he alright, Albus?"

Albus opened his mouth to reply but Rose butted in, forcing her body in front of Albus's.

"It was all Tom Wrought, Mr Malfoy! He needs to be dealt with!"

"Miss Granger-Weasley!"

Rose had sat with Albus throughout those sleepless nights at the Burrow. She had stayed up with Lily all night and comforted her when she had been cheated on by that Ravenclaw. Refused to leave a crying Dominique's side when Fleur's sister had died so young.

She sat at a bruised Scorpius's bedside in the early hours of the morning.

She didn't notice Albus at first. She was sitting still, her eyes on Scorpius's sleeping face. Albus smiled at the sight.

"Good-morning Rose," he said quietly, cautious of Scorpius sleeping.

Rose jumped up and her mouth dropped open. Albus raised his hands up in mock surrender.

"Relax, I'm not going to tell him that you've been here when I visit later," Albus said. "I just wanted to see if I was right. And I was. I am."

Rose briefly glanced at Scorpius before walking over to Albus, pushing him back towards the door. "And what exactly are you right about, may I ask?"

"That you like him."

Rose was taken aback for a moment, her face twisting in despair slightly. She quickly recovered, composing herself together. "Excuse me?" She said, deliberately raising her eyebrows.

"You. Like. Him." Albus repeated. "You, Rose Granger-Weasley, like Scorpius Malfoy. And I mean like-like, by the way."

"Rubbish!" Rose exclaimed. "If this - if you're accusing me of this nonsense because I'm here then you're delusional, to be blunt. As if you wouldn't come and sit with him - your best friend! - when he's injured or ill!"

"That's true," Albus said, smiling at her. "I would - if his injuries were serious. You were there with me last night when Madam Pomfrey said it was a common injury of a bad hex. And secondly, if I had been here instead of you, wouldn't that make more sense? After all, I've been his best friend for almost seven-years now. You two are only Head Boy and Head Girl, right? Nothing more? Just friends and colleagues?"

"He came and sat with me when I fainted with revision stress last month!" Rose interjected.

"And why was that? Hmm?" Albus said, pretending to look confused. "Oh! I know! Because he likes you. Has done since first-year and still does."

"That's a lie. He's not as awkward around me anymore! He isn't like he used to be. He's - he's - he doesn't say I smell of bread or anything else anymore!"

Albus rolled his eyes. "That's because a fourteen year old and a seventeen year old tend to express their feelings in different ways. Let me think of another example for you," He paused, tilting his head. "Oh! I also know! Rejecting a boy despite smirking and smiling away when you're fourteen versus… hmm.. let me think… sitting with said injured boy at six o'clock in the morning!"

"You talk absolute rubbish, Albus," Rose said, folding her arms. "Rubbish."

"You can believe what you want, Rose," Albus said, beginning to retreat towards the door to leave. "But we're leaving Hogwarts soon. And you should know that it's okay to put away the Rose Granger-Weasley facade. I think you'll be happier when you do, you know."

A part of Rose wanted to retort, but she remained silent. She did not know how to reply.

"I'll leave you be," Albus said, opening the door.

"Wait, Albus," Rose said weakly. Her crumbling voice felt both simultaneously foreign and familiar. "Does he really still like me?"

Albus turned and smiled at her. "I think thee Rose Granger-Weasley can answer that by herself," he said before finally leaving.

Rose stood in silence for a few moments, his words swirling around her mind.

The Rose Granger-Weasley facade.

"I like him too," She said quietly to herself before turning around and walking back to Scorpius's bedside. He was still sleeping. "I like him a lot. More than a lot."

"And he likes you a lot too. More than a lot, actually."

For a second, Rose didn't understand where the voice had came from. Her brain didn't process it, despite watching Scorpius's lips move. She fell back a little, her mouth opening in shock and her face suddenly feeling very warm.

Scorpius opened up his eyes widely.

"I'm a very good liar, you know. Lied about keeping the time turner in fourth year and everyone believed it!" Scorpius said, grinning at her. "Well… not that that was a particularly well-thought out decision. Didn't end very well - for a while, at least. But I don't think that this lie will bring about the same destruction, will it?"

She looked at him blankly for a second.

The Rose Granger-Weasley facade.

Finally, she smiled.

"No, I don't think it will," Rose said. She sat down on the bed and took his hand in hers. "I don't think it will at all."