"You've got to be kidding me?"

The younger auror merely shook his head, far too intimidated by the famous Harry Potter to say anything. It wasn't that he was a bad boss, it's just that no one wanted to piss off the guy who finally killed Voldemort before he even took his NEWT's. If he could do away with one of the most powerful wizards, he could probably manage to cause serious damage to a newly qualified auror. Right now, he certainly did not look impressed. He was pacing the floors of his office and looked deep in thought. Very angry thoughts. The young man gulped.

Although he was worried and more than a little scared by Potter's reaction, he was in no way surprised. The other aurors had told him a lot about the Death Eater's who refused to accept the outcome of the war. They were dealt with quickly and efficiently with most of it being kept from the public.

But this was something else.

This was organised, and possibly threatening. They were no longer acting alone but banding together, seemingly trying to reinstate order among the dark wizards. The aurors had to act now before they became to powerful, meeting them with a force they could not rival with. If they did that, however, it would not go unnoticed, something Shacklebolt insisted on. If the public found out, they became hysterical and then order would be lost. If order was lost, the Death Eaters would get the success they wanted handed to them by the Ministry.

The young man was drawn from his thought by the authorative tone of his boss who looked almost ashamed as he spoke.

"We keep control. We have to. Just... we've got to keep it quiet."

Harry knew his decision would shock some of his aurors but it had to be done. Of course they had to protect people, that was their job but sometimes you had to make difficult decisions. He knew that by keeping their campaign quiet would mean that some people would get hurt. But if he had learnt one thing from the war, it was that you couldn't save everyone. By not making a scene, he hoped to stop the crisis. It didn't mean that every death he read about wouldn't haunt his sleep like the faces of so many others did.

No matter how hard he tried, they were always there. His mother; his father; Sirius; Lupin; Tonks; Fred; Snape; Dumbledore; Mad-Eye; even Lavender! He could never forget, never forgive himself. That was his punishment.

And it was one that would never end.

"You could just talk to her Scorp." Al began, absentmindedly pulling his scarf tighter against the winter chill.

"Have you talked to Mia? No? Thought not."

The two friends stood in silence for a while, each consumed by their own problems. They knew they should stop avoiding them - and the girls that were the root of them - but they couldn't, not yet. So instead the two of them spent most of their time at school hiding, neither of them brave enough to face the world just yet. Mia had tried to contact Al numerous times but he couldn't face her. It had taken so much to convince her that he deserved a shot, taken so much of his courage, that the idea of having to do so all over again terrified him. The first time, at least, he had the support of his two best friends. The absence of Rose had not gone unnoticed by either of the boys.

Instead of spending time with them as she normally did, she appeared to have thrown herself into N.E.W.T's preparation, which everyone knew she didn't really need, she was her mother's daughter after all. The rest of the school hadn't seemed to realise that it was a little strange to begin studying so intensely when the exams were months away.

Then again, they believe everything that comes out of Rose Weasley's mouth, thought Scorpius sourly, the thought of her only adding the pain he hadn't been able to escape. He wanted to hate her for what she had done with every fibre of his being but...he couldn't.

It wasn't hatred that rose in his chest when he thought of her. When he closed his eyes and saw her auburn hair fanned around as she slept, the way her face lit up when she laughed, pictured the defiant way she would argue with him, there wasn't the slightest hate towards her. There was only the desire to take her in his arms. There was only love.

A love he knew she didn't feel back. Maybe, in time, she could have, but not now. Rose didn't forgive easily. And the things he had said, they were bad, really bad. He had used her biggest weaknesses, her insecurities against her.

Now that he hated.

A/N: I'm baaaack! Ive been super busy but ive finally managed to get my laptop out and try and catch up on all the writing I've fallen behind on .

Ill admit I'm not too sure on the first half of this but it is kind of necessary to get where I want to so for that I apologize.

Anyway, thank you so much to everyone who reviewed/ alerted/ favourited. If you want to join them, look down and you'll find what you need :)