A/N: You can never truly hate Albus.

And first Facebook...now ? I'm really hating all of this change!

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Rebels and Quidditch Players

"G'mornin', Rosie." Albus jogged to his favourite cousin's side with an uncharacteristically wide grin on his thin face. Rose raised an eyebrow as they clambered out of the portrait hole together, making their way down the rotating staircases to the Great Hall for breakfast. Albus was always the shy, doubtful one of the both of them and to have him grinning like it was Christmas morning was downright suspicious.

"What is it, Al?" She finally asked as they sat down at the Gryffindor table. They were the first ones there - the both of them woke up early to finish a Potions assignment. There were only a few students littered about the Great Hall.

Albus did not answer her; he reached forward to grab a slice of toast. Rose slapped his shoulder and he jumped in his seat in shock.

"What? I can't act cheery in the morning?" He said, pulling the toast onto his plate. He picked up his knife and cut off a corner of a butter stick.

"Well, it seems awfully unorthodox of you." Rose replied as she stabbed at a few pancakes with her fork. Albus chuckled before biting into his toast.

"My morning cheeriness isn't the only thing that's unorthodox around here." He grinned, and Rose swatted his shoulder again.

"Keep it down, will you?" She hissed, her eyes darting left and right. Albus gave a barking laugh and patted his cousin's back.

"Like anybody knows what I'm referring to." He guffawed again as Lisa, Thomas and the rest of the Weasley piled into the Great Hall.

"You both are up pretty early." Hugo let out a huge yawn as he flopped down on the bench. Rose shrugged and reached for the scrambled eggs.

"We had work to finish up, so we got up an hour earlier than usual." She explained casually. Albus, unable to help himself, looked like his skin was going to rip from smiling so hard.

"Rose couldn't sleep anyway," He said as he dumped a pile of bacon onto his plate, "patrol was so eventful the other night she couldn't stop thinking about it."

Lisa, Lily and Jane stared at Rose, their eyes wide with shock and curiosity. Rose groaned and gave a short glare towards Albus before going on to explain herself.

"He's just exaggerating," She said quickly, "what really happened was that I thought I saw something in the hallways, but it really was just Mrs. Norris."

"That bloody cat's still alive? How many years has it been? Fifty? One hundred?" Thomas sniggered. Mandy shrugged her shoulders.

"She even outlived Crookshanks." She added before shoving a forkful of eggs into her mouth.

"Maybe Filch's gotten someone to put some kind of life charm or something on her." Dominique suggested, and suddenly everybody engaged themselves in a conversation about Mrs. Norris and her unusually lengthy lifespan. Rose sighed in relief, but then turned to narrow her eyes at Albus.

"What do you think you're doing?" She growled under her breath. Albus shook his head and held his hands up in a mock surrender.

"Sorry, sorry. I couldn't help myself." He said apologetically, but he was still grinning.

Albus had double Transfiguration while Rose had Arithmancy and spare (spare with Scorpius, to be more specific) and they separated after they finished breakfast. Rose felt relief wash over her as she made her way to class - she needed something to distract her from what happened earlier that morning.

Class dragged by, much to Rose's chagrin; she spent most, if not all of her time thinking about the things Albus had said. The bronze-haired Gryffindor was shaking her head disbelievingly as she made her way up to the library. Albus was an idiot - leave it up to a boy, your best friend and favourite cousin, to ruin everything.

"Not a morning person, I presume?" The deep drawling voice startled Rose and she nearly tripped over herself. She caught herself just in time and jerked her head upwards to face Scorpius, who was casually leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. His platinum blonde bangs were jagged and wispy and they casually swept over his eyes; she resisted the urge to approach him, to reach up and brush them out of the way.

"Al was making stupid comments at breakfast." She muttered under her breath as she continued her walk. Scorpius caught up with her in two long strides - she mentally cursed him and his long legs.

"Ah," He ran a hand through his hair, "I'm not surprised."

"You don't understand; he could've exposed-"

"And if he did, what would it matter?"

"Everything!" She yelped a little louder than it should have been; luckily no one was around to hear her, "He was dropping very not-so subtle hints about you and me, Scorpius - my family isn't stupid, they're able to connect two and two together!"

"I think you're overreacting," The serenity in his tone only further infuriated her; he held the door open to the library for her and she stormed past him, "you always overreact on the smallest things - what's that Muggle saying - there's no use crying over spilled milk?"

"Shut up, shut up," She grumbled as she stalked past the towering bookshelves, not caring if Scorpius was following or not - but just to make sure, she glanced over her shoulder. Surely enough he was a few steps behind her with one of his 'you're-being-ridiculous' looks and his hands shoved in his pockets. She flopped down on the study table on the farthest side of the library, just before the restricted area, and pulled a few books out of her bag. She heard Scorpius dragging a chair towards her and she rolled her eyes.

"I kind of admit to missing the days where you used to loathe me," She muttered as she violently flipped through the pages of her Arithmancy textbook, "back then you weren't always breathing down my neck."

She did not know if he did this to spite her, or for his own amusement, but he inched closer to her face until she really did feel him breathing on her neck. The quill in her hand slipped through her limp fingers and landed on her textbook with a soft thud, and her heartbeat accelerated to dizzying speeds - in fact she began to notice that the world around her began to spin as she felt his arms slip around her waist.

In their younger years he had a knack for pushing her buttons - now she realized that he was gifted at it. Her skin doubled in temperature as he pressed his face against her neck, planting a trail of kisses down to her collarbone. Her fingers were twitching slightly but she made no other movement; he paralyzed her.

She shifted in his arms so that she was facing him, and she closed her eyes and let her lips collide with his in a smoldering kiss. His grip on her waist tightened and he pulled her closer to him, grunting when their stomachs touched. Rose's back arched and the dizzy feeling intensified.

He instantly pulled away - too soon, she thought miserably. She stared back at him in disbelief, her cheeks flushed and her eyes flashing lividly, but her shoulders were not moving.

"You've got to breathe every once in awhile, you know." He reminded her, and at that instant her shoulders depressed as she took a deep lungful of air. It was a relieving feeling, and the heat from her face cooled a little, but her heart was still fluttering like hummingbird wings. He smiled her favourite crooked smile; she felt like she was going into cardiac arrest.

"Sorry," She breathed; she found it difficult to speak after they had their...moments, "I forget from time to time."

He shook his head and leaned closer towards her again, pressing his forehead against hers. His steel grey eyes searched her face; she felt like she should have said something but at the same time it seemed inappropriate to do so. He closed his eyes and sighed, and then he pulled away from her again. She felt an unpleasant aching growing in her chest and she longed to reach out to him, to fit in the contours of his body, but she forced her arms to stay where they were. In minutes the rational part of her awoke and began to take over; she felt the frustration from their previous conversation return and she swiveled in her chair to return to her textbook.

"I hate it when you distract me like that." Her tone was cutting and irritated again; she heard him scoff and it did not help lighten her mood.

"But it works, doesn't it?" He asked innocently, and she turned to roll her eyes at him. He waited for a snappy remark, but when she went back to her textbook he only laughed some more.

--

The air was getting warmer - it was a good sign, Albus mused. He was zooming around the Quidditch pitch with the rest of the Gryffindor team later that evening; their match with Ravenclaw was coming up this weekend and they were trying out a new playing strategy. Being captain of the team, like his brother and father before him, was no easy task - especially when Hugo and Randy were on the team.

"Boys," Roxanne, the newest and youngest addition to the team, muttered before kicking off into the air. The other Gryffindor Chaser, Dylan Royce, was in the hospital wing nursing a broken leg ("It was an accident involving two Fanged Frisbees, Potions class and wrong timing," Dylan explained sheepishly when Albus went to visit him earlier) so the team needed a fast replacement. Roxanne was the best Chaser out of all the Gryffindors that showed up to the tryout; he tried not to be biased, and when everyone found out he selected yet another family member it was natural for them to lash out. The tempest subsided quickly though, and nearly everybody was calm enough to see that Roxanne truly did have talent. Quidditch was a common trait in the Weasley family.

After two hours of trying to get Hugo and Randy to pay attention Albus decided to call it a day. The team shuffled into their change rooms; Albus switched back to his school robes in minutes, being used to changing in and out of his Quidditch robes since his first year. He waited patiently for his cousins to finish, and then they waited outside the girls' change room for Roxanne.

"That was some wicked flying you were doing today, Roxie," Hugo deep voice was approving as the four approached the school, "way better than Albus!"

"Maybe you'll take over as Seeker next year." Randy chimed; Roxanne ducked her head, embarrassed. Albus chortled with his family members all the way up to the common room; he was surprised to see Rose sitting in her usual squashy armchair by the fireplace, reading another one of her Jane Austen books.

"How was practice?" Thomas asked; he was lying on the floor with Jane, facing each other in Wizards Chess. Albus shrugged nonchalantly and moved to sit in the armchair opposite Rose's.

"Same old, same old." He said casually; Hugo moved to sit by Rose's feet while Randy dashed to his dormitory to grab his guitar, "I think we've got everything set for this weekend; it'll be an interesting game."

Rose acted as if Albus was not there; she kept her eyes glued to her book. He felt uneasiness growing inside of him and he tried to ignore her. Thomas, fortunately, reeled him into an engaging conversation about Quidditch strategies and it kept his mind off of Rose's behaviour for now. Knowing her, she was probably plotting his murder.

Alright, no more wisecracks, he thought timidly. He really was trying his best to understand just what exactly Rose saw in Scorpius, but it was so impossible - this was Scorpius Malfoy, for Merlin's sake! It could have easily been anybody else...anybody! He really did think that she was going to hit it off with Damien Byrne, but he was proven wrong; Damien insisted that he only saw Rose as a good friend and nothing more when Albus inquired him about it.

The conversation with Thomas ended too soon - Thomas muttered something about finishing an essay, and hurried off to his dormitory. Albus decided to play Jane in chess, but his younger cousin also had homework to do, and she ran off somewhere else. He pinched his nose with his index and thumb; it was like everybody was working against him today.

"I'll see you later," He heard Randy and Hugo exchange their goodnights as they moved to the stairs to their dormitories. Albus felt an abnormally large lump forming in his throat; that just left him and Rose. He feigned exhaustion, forcing a yawn and stretching his arms as he rose to his feet. He thought he was making his perfect getaway when Rose's stern voice piped up from behind, stopping him dead in his tracks.

"Al," He cringed at the edge in her voice and he slowly spun on his heel to face her. She was still looking down on her lap, her eyes darting left to right as she read Mansfield Park, "you know I haven't really gotten over what happened this morning."

Damn. He set himself up for this, he knew it; he trudged over to his armchair and plopped down, his head hung in shame. "I said I was sorry." What a childish excuse.

"Al, I trust you." She looked up; his heart wrung with guilt when he read the pained expression her eyes. He scratched the back of his head and pushed his glasses up, trying to find the right words to say.

"I know you do, and I feel really bad about what I did to you this morning," He was speaking so quickly he was not sure if he was aware of what he was saying, " and I admit I was being a git. I'm really, really, really sorry Rosie - I'll do anything to make it up to you!" His voice grew more desperate and hysterical with every word - he noticed Rose's eyes growing wider with concern.

"I know this whole thing is a little...odd, but I know that you'd probably be dealing with it better than anyone else. Can you see Hugo reacting to this rationally?" She asked half-sarcastically, and Albus let out a dark laugh to accompany her tone.

"No, I guess not." He cast his eyes to the floor again, "It really is hard to accept, though."

Rose reached forward to take his hands in hers. His eyes were still staring at his shoes. "I don't blame you for going against it - like I told you yesterday, I'm only just beginning to understand it myself. We're not going to get it in a day, you know. That's how we learn things."

"I know." He raised his green gaze to smile weakly at her. She smiled back and drew back into her seat, her book flopping in her lap. He hesitated for a moment, wondering if his question was going to appall her, but he realized that it was just Rose, his best friend and nobody else. "What about your mum and dad? What will they think?"

Never in their entire lives had Albus stumped Rose; this time he might have actually done it. Her brow was creased with deep thought and her eyes were wandering around the room, searching for an answer to his question.

"Y'know, I don't think they matter much at the moment." She answered finally, her voice uncharacteristically quiet. He was a little taken back by her answer, mostly because Rose idolized her parents - her mother especially - and she never did anything without consulting them first. This was probably the first rebellious act she had ever performed in her entire life, and Albus could not help but feel a little proud. Rebelliousness, along with a knack for Quidditch, was also a common trait in their family.

"Good answer." He said, grinning. Rose grinned back - the Ron in her was easier to see when she smiled.

"Whatever's going to happen from here on, just remember that I'm with you every step of the way." Albus said, and he rose from his seat, "Now if you excuse me, I have a Transfiguration quiz to study for."

Rose got up as well and she nodded in understanding. She marked her place in her book with a ribbon and tucked the leather-bound tome under her arms.

"Alright. Thanks Al, for like the billionth time."

Albus winked before jogging to the stairs.

"This time, you don't have to owe me back."