A/N: Back from my second vacation. Sorry if this chapter's a little short-I'll try to make the next one a little longer.

Thank you to all who are still reading this story!

Promise

It was a rainy afternoon in Hogwarts. Rose always hated the rain, except for at night when she was about to sleep. The rhythmic pitter-patter always lulled her to sleep whenever she had trouble doing so. Other than that, she despised the way it made everything look so dull and depressing, and it made her hair so frizzy she looked like she had gotten electrocuted.

Due to the rain Rose could not spend her spare time under her favourite beech tree, so she decided to do some homework in the library instead. The library was her second choice when she needed a place to stray away from society for a little while. The smell of books and ink always calmed her, and the fact that there were not any annoying screeching half-Veelas to bother her was also another plus.

The rain pounded against the windows as she sat down at her usual table. As she opened her bag to take out her books she noticed that the sky was a very dark grey, despite the fact that it was only noon.

"How depressing." She muttered to herself as she plucked her scarlet plumed quill out of one of the outside pockets of her bag.

"Not one for storms, are you?" A smooth voice said from behind, and Rose jumped a little in her seat. Secretly hoping it was a fully recovered Scorpius Malfoy, she turned around to look, but her heart resumed its regular beat. It was only Damien Byrne.

Only Damien Byrne? What has gotten into you?

"Oh...hello Damien." Rose greeted half-heartedly. She did not like how his voice sounded similar to Scorpius'. Damien smiled and moved to sit beside her. Before the accident this movement would have caused her to have a heart attack.

"What's the matter?" Damien craned his neck so that he got a better look at her face, "Is the weather affecting your mood?"

Rose nodded even though this was not entirely true; she was still worrying about Scorpius, but she decided that it was safer not to mention that. She opened a textbook and began to skim through the pages.

"Kind of." She said distractedly as she found what she was looking for in the textbook and scribbled down a few notes, "I never really liked the rain."

Damien chuckled and she wondered why she was still able to breathe. He ran his fingers through his hair and she mentally noted that Scorpius had a habit of doing that too.

"I really don't fancy it much either." He said as he turned his head to look towards the window, "It cancels Quidditch."

Rose forced a laugh and pushed her roll of parchment away. She could not concentrate on her work at the moment, but she knew that Damien was not the reason why. To avoid suspicion she mimicked his pose by looking out the window. An awkward silence elapsed between them for a good few minutes or so, and she felt tension growing. She was sure he felt it too.

"You're still worried over Malfoy, aren't you?" He asked, breaking the silence. Rose quickly turned to face him, and she found him staring straight at her. His dark brown eyes were twinkling under the dim light above their heads. A few strands of his neatly combed hair fell in front of his eyes, making him look restless.

"I…" She started, and relapsed into silence again. She stared at her lap and began playing with her hands. She felt a warm sensation under her chin and realized that Damien was tilting her head up so he could look at her properly.

"He's fine. He's conscious now." He said gently. Rose's pulse sped up instantly and she drew back from his hand, which was still cupped under her chin.

"Wha-? How do you-"

"Word travels fast, Rose." He was smiling as he spoke. She stood up and immediately began gathering her things. She stuffed them into her bag and slung it over her shoulder. Damien looked up at her, but he already knew where she was heading.

"Do you want me to go with you?" He asked calmly, standing up as he did so. Rose contemplated this for a moment; she did not see what harm it would do, plus Scorpius would probably be too sore to throw a good enough insult.

"I don't see a reason why you shouldn't." She replied with a small smile. He nodded and smiled back and offered to carry her bag. She politely declined, feeling horrible enough that his charm did not have a big impact on her like it used to. She did not want to feel like she was using him.

"C'mon then." He said softly, offering his arm. She wordlessly grabbed his elbow and shuffled along his side, lost in her thoughts.

--

"I thought you told his sister that he was conscious!"

"He is, Miss Schultz, but he is still very weak and he needs his rest. You will be able to talk to him once he wakes up."

"Hmph!"

The short argument was followed by a series of impatient footsteps out of the door and a string of incoherent muttering from Madam Pomfrey. Scorpius had been pretending to be asleep for the past few hours in order to avoid interacting with Tatia; she had been visiting at least ten times every fifteen minutes. He had the time to count them all.

"She's gone, Mister Malfoy." That was his cue. Scorpius' eyes fluttered slowly, stinging slightly from the white light above him. He thanked Madam Pomfrey in a weak, strained voice, and she only nodded in reply before shuffling somewhere else to work on another patient.

It took a herculean effort to sit up; every part of his body writhed with pain; he figured he must have fallen far. He reached up to stroke the thick stream of bandages that wrapped around his head; he could hardly recall the accident that occurred almost two weeks ago. Whenever he tried thinking back to what happened the images became fuzzy and the sound was muffled, like a television with bad reception. It hurt just to think about it.

"Scorpius?"

He recognized that voice; despite the shocking pain that ran up his spine all the way to the back of his head he turned to face Rose, who was standing by the entrance to the hospital wing. Damien Byrne was standing by her side, smiling sheepishly.

"Hullo Malfoy. You're looking better." He said as he walked with Rose towards Scorpius' bed. Scorpius managed a grim smile towards the Ravenclaw Seeker, but he brightened considerably when he turned towards Rose.

"I'm so glad you're conscious now. It's been awhile since the...accident." She said as she looked down towards the floor. Her bottom lip was quivering as if she was suppressing the urge to cry. Scorpius tried his hardest to ignore the dull aching he felt in his chest.

"Yeah...still a bit sore but I reckon it'll get better." He said quietly, thinking back to the 'conversation' they had when he was still unconscious. He wanted to tell her so bad how he thought it was not her fault, but it did not feel appropriate with Damien there.

"I'm afraid I have some apologizing to do, Malfoy." Damien said and stepped forward; Scorpius raised an eyebrow at him, "Paul Monhagen, one of the Beaters on my team, was the one who hit that Bludger in your direction. I want to say sorry on his behalf."

No wonder everyone likes him. He takes the bloody blame for himself. I wonder why he isn't in Gryffindor?

"Don't worry about it, Byrne." Scorpius muttered gruffly, not even bothering to look at the Ravenclaw Seeker, "S'not a big deal. You can let Monhagen have a few more minutes of fame." Holden had told him how Paul had been basking in his newfound fame after he had hit him; Scorpius thought it was downright ridiculous. He could not wait until he was able to get out of bed.

"Yeah...about that-that's something else I'd like to apologize for." Damien continued, but Scorpius waved him off. He eyed Rose for a split second, who seemed to interested in her shoes.

"I told you, it's nothing to worry about. Just leave it until our next match." He said emotionlessly. Damien, sensing that he was not wanted in the room (specifically from Scorpius), coughed loudly and made an excuse to leave. Rose protested for a bit, much to Scorpius' chagrin, but she gave in and waved half-heartedly as he hastily made his way out of the room.

"You wanted him to leave the second he came here, didn't you?" Rose stared at him with accusing eyes; he missed those dark blue orbs of hers.

"Never liked the bloke." He replied casually, and leaned back against the soft pillows. He noticed that his bedside table was littered with sweets and Get Well cards, mostly from Tatia and her groupies. He picked up a box of Chocolate Frogs and began eating.

"Scorpius, w-what happened that night during your game…-" Rose's voice began to falter, and he knew she was trying to explain how the accident was her fault. He sighed and waited for her to finish her sentence, but it never came, so he decided to finish it for her.

"It's not your fault, Weasley, so don't act like it is. You're only giving yourself more trouble." He said wearily.

"No, you don't understand-"

"I think I do, Rose." He barely whispered her name, but it was loud enough so that she could hear. Both of them could not even think far back enough to the time where he last addressed her by her first name, if he ever did. Her name sounded foreign on his tongue; it swished around his mouth without any consistency or feeling. It felt like it did not belong there.

Silence filled the gap between them for a few moments. Rose probably figured he was serious since he called her by her first name, so she needed some space to think about it. He understood that. He sat there and stared out of the window to his right, noting how grey the sky was. The rain never seemed to stop. The dull rumbling of thunder was heard in the distance.

"Thank you, Scorpius." She breathed, and he looked up at her. She was smiling faintly, and her eyes were shining with unshed tears.

"For what?" He asked, confused. He did not understand why she looked so sad. It bothered him quite a bit. She only shook her head and smiled again before leaving the room. Once he was convinced that she was actually gone he cursed out loud. Women were so damn confusing. Why could not they just give a straight answer instead of making him guess all the time?

"Malfoy." A deep voice echoed throughout the hospital wing, and Damien Byrne appeared by his bedside again. Scorpius rolled his eyes.

"Back so soon, Byrne? Missed me haven't you?" He said tauntingly, and it was Damien's turn to roll his eyes.

"I came back to talk to you about Rose." He said in a serious tone, and Scorpius knew that it was no joking matter. He straightened up, wincing in pain as he did so, and nodded, motioning for Damien to continue.

"Rose is a good person." He started, and Scorpius scoffed.

"Tell me something that I don't know." He muttered, and Damien smiled, but he did not understand why. The Ravenclaw Seeker cleared his throat and continued.

"I care for her well-being (Scorpius cringed at the mention of this) and I would do anything in my power to make sure that she is out of harm's way. I just need you to promise me one thing." The look in Damien's eyes was intense; even Scorpius felt a little intimidated under his stare.

"Promise me that you will take care of her. Make sure she doesn't get hurt in any way possible. If she does, I'm automatically looking for you." Damien's voice had never sounded so dangerous before. He was always such a nice person, and to hear him speak in such a low foreboding tone made Scorpius shiver. At the same time, however, he could not help but feel confused. Why was he making him promise such a thing?

"She sees something in you, I know that for sure." Damien said as if he read Scorpius' mind, "And I have no idea what it is, but as her friend I'm going to respect her decision and support her in any way that I can. If you have any intention to break that good heart of hers, I'm going to have to break you. Do you understand?"

Scorpius rolled his eyes despite the uneasiness he was feeling on the inside. He did not completely understand what Damien meant when he said that Rose saw something in him, but he decided to put some thought into it later.

"I think you're talking rubbish, Byrne, but alright, I'll keep my word. Can you leave now? I want to rest."

Damien sighed and threw his hands up in defeat, but he obliged and left the room. Scorpius nestled against his pillows and closed his eyes, taking in what Damien had told him just minutes before.

"She sees something in you, I know that for sure."

What was that supposed to mean? He could not help but feel a little elated; maybe she was actually beginning to see him in a different way, different than her parents and the rest of the wizarding world.

It was a stretch, he knew that, but it was something at least. He could not help but hope.