Ch 21

Silence. That was all that engulfed Rose and I as the carriage made it's way up to the castle. I stared out the window watching the snow blow by, and Rose stared at me. I could feel her blue eyes boring into me.

"Riley," Rose said breaking the silence, "Has anything been going between you and Al?" He voice was soft. And I knew it was now or never. We were completely alone. And I didn't know when we would have the luxury again. She was one of my best friends. If I couldn't tell her I couldn't tell anyone. Taking a deep breath I looked away from the window

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know? He broke up with Claire and you don't know if something is going on between the two of you?" Rose said. Her voice was still low and soft. Coming from anyone else this would have caused me to bristle and become defensive. But coming from Rose I felt no judgment. She simply wanted to know. I'm assuming she had a similar conversation with Al. And if she hadn't yet I knew she would be soon.

"It's complicated. I mean up until this point he has had a girlfriend."

"Do you fancy him?" She asked

"Yes." I saw no surprise in her eyes.

After a moment she spoke "He fancies you too. I can see it in the way he looks at you. Merlin you should have seen him when you were talking with any boys while we were staying with James. I thought he was going to throw a fit. And you and I both know that Al is not one prone to jealousy. I would just give it a few days maybe a week or two… knowing Claire two would be better, before the two of you start snogging."

I blushed at her words.

"What makes you think we will start snogging?"

Rose gave me a knowing look.

"Please, I've watched the two of you ogle one anther for two weeks now. If wasn't for Al still being in whatever relationship was left with Claire the two you would have been inseparable."

I giggled. It felt good to have finally told Rose. I didn't have to hold it in anymore. I could feel the stress I had been caring dissipating from my body. All the dread I had been feeling about returning to school was gone. I was now looking forward to having dinner with my friends around me and enjoying the last night before term started. I also had to tell Morgan about my trip. And then it hit me. Morgan. She fancied Al. I was not supposed to fancy Al. She wanted Al to fancy her and (according to Rose) Al fancied me…

"RoseMorganfanciesAlandshewantedmetogetAltofancyherandnowshitI'msrewed" I blurted out.

"Come again?"

" Morgan fancies Al and she wanted me to get Al to fancy her." I told her at a normal speaking speed.

"What!" Rose

I quickly explained to her about Morgan wanting to get to know Al better and saw an in through me and how I was supposed to break Al and Claire up (Rose scoffed at this) so she could comfort him and then he would fancy her.

"That is the daftest idea I have ever heard. Why would you agree to do something like that? Why didn't you laugh at her?" Rose asked as she twirled a lock of her hair around her finger. A sure sign she was upset.

"I never thought anything would happen. Al and I have been friends for years and until now always thought we would be just friends. Also I never thought Al and Claire would break up. At least not until school was out. Trust me I wasn't trying to do anything."

The carriage stopped and the door opened. Rose knew we couldn't continue the conversation until we got somewhere that had a million charms on it to keep it completely under wraps.

"I know. I know. We're going to finish this after dinner. Meet me in the room of requirement. We need a place to talk." And then she was gone. Hopping out of the carriage and into the blowing snow.

I was alone as I made my way up the magically dried stone steps. Rose had disappeared in the crowed and I could only assume was off to find Scorpius to tell him of the shit storm I had gotten myself into. I pushed open the heavy wood doors and inhaled the smell of my second home. I had missed it greatly. So many memories flashed before my eyes as I walked though the hallway and into the great hall. My sorting, laughing with Rose as we made our way to the kitchens, Morgan and I laying on the roof swapping stories, Quidditch matches, the parties after Quidditch matches, staying up to late, studying and then laughing myself sick with Rose, Al smiling at me from across the table at breakfast while Rose went on a rant about something. Al I should not be thinking about Al. Not when I was about to walk into a giant room where his now exgirlfriend was. But I couldn't avoid it forever and it was much better to face it head on rather then avoiding it. That would just make me look really guilty. And so I joined trail end of the crowed entering the great hall. I braced myself for the feel of eyes upon me, but instead I felt nothing. No eyes turned towards me as I walked to the Gryffindor table. No whispered conversations coming to a stand still as I walked past. Everyone was enjoying catching up with their friends. It seemed as if no one knew that Hogwarts golden couple had broken up. And maybe that was the case. No one knew. Claire didn't go into a rage and call me a slag to anyone that would listen. Instantly I scanned the Ravenclaw table for Claire. It didn't take me long to find her. She was sitting with her friends. All of them clustered around her. One rubbed her back in a comforting motion but the rest were talking and smiling. They seemed to be chatting about their holiday. The only give always that something was amiss was her friend rubbing her back, her eyes were slightly pink and a little bit puffy from crying, and the necklace Al gave her back when they first started going out was no where to be seen. If I hadn't have known before I wouldn't have know now.

I then looked for Al. But unlike Claire he was nowhere to be found. Apparently he was taking the break up much harder the Claire was. I saw Rose sitting over at the Slytherin table and knew I was going to be on my own for dinner. Something that normally bothers me, but tonight I just wanted to be alone. I knew that for the moment it was calm, but something told me that it wasn't going to stay that way. I sat at the end of the table, away from most people, just enjoying a moment to myself and having a quiet moment to myself before I knew all hell was going to break loose.

After dinner Rose found me, unfortunately she was usually true to her word, to discuss the goings on between Al and myself. She dragged me away as soon as dinner ended and we made our way to the room of requirement. We walked in silence the whole way. Our footsteps echoing off the stone walls. We both knew that these walls had eyes and ears and private conversations were best to be had in private. Rose learned that the hard way in our fourth year when she was overheard bad mouthing a seventh year girl who was trying to seduce James. Word spread quickly, and James wasn't to pleased with her.

I stood silent as I watched Rose pace back and forth in front of what appeared to be a black patch of stone. And after the third pass a door appeared. She yanked it open and pulled me inside.

The room was much smaller then I had ever seen it before. I usually only was in the room of requirement for a party or a large get together. The room was about the size of my grandmas living room. With two armchairs, a small love seat, and a fire. That was all. It was a simple small space. None of the grandness I saw in parties. Clearly Rose asked for a room that only provided the necessities to have a private conversation. Rose sat down on the love seat and patted the seat next to me.

"Have a seat Riley. We have quite a bit to discuss. We only have an hour though, because Al is coming at 8." Merlin she was like her own therapist. That's what she should do when she leaves school. Forget her plans of joining the ministry she should just talk to people all day and solve their problems. She would make a killing.

I sat down next to her and prepared myself for the on slot of questions I knew were going to come.

"When did it start?" Rose asked. She was not one to beat around the bush. She was going right for the information. But I wanted her to be more specific. Because I wouldn't be able to answer that question. It was to open ended. I could tell her when I first realized I had feelings for Al. I could tell her about when I started hanging out with him. I could tell her when he started coming to me to talk. There were just to many different answers.

"What do you mean? I know what you're asking but I need it to be more detailed."

"When did you start having feelings for Al?" she asked.

"I'm not to sure about that."

Rose opened her mouth to interrupt but I didn't let her.

"No Rose just let me talk. I'm not sure when I started having feelings for him. We started hanging our more after we were partnered in Transfiguration. But I would have to say that it started feeling different around November. And most defiantly after he took me flying."

"He took you flying? Rose interrupted.

"Yes. It's a long story. But I felt things change after that. I didn't fully realize it until over Christmas break. I don't think I was ready to admit it to myself until then. Up to that point I couldn't see myself fancying him because we had been friends and he had been dating Claire for a while. I didn't see them breaking up anytime soon and I was not going to spend my seventh year fancying some boy who would never fancy me back."

Rose nodded in understanding.

"What changed over Christmas? Because I honestly have seen something between the two of you since shortly after Halloween."

" It was when we are at the Quidditch match. It was the first time in a long long while I had seen him without Claire around in some way. Even when we're here she has eyes all over the school and he sees her on a regular basis. With you guys being in the States the only communication they had was letters. I just was so much more aware of him then I had been before. Also, I recognized the boy smell that I couldn't identify from potions class. It's defiantly the smell of his clothes."

" He and Claire hardly talked at all while we were over there. I found myself more surprised then I thought I would be knowing how things were going between the two of them before we left."

"What do you mean?" I asked. I tried not to sound as interested as I really was.

"The two of them have been rocky for a while. I was trying to get Al to tell me what was going on but Claire was intervening and telling me to butt out of his business. Which tells me she's not happy about something."

I nodded. Knowing Rose that was all I was going to get. She was not to big of a gossip and held her family's information close. Even if I was her best friend, I wasn't going to get anything more out of her. If it had been someone outside of her family I'm sure she would have told me, but Rose followed the saying blood is thicker then water to a tee.

"So now that we have that cleared up I only have a few more questions. Have you kissed?"

"No." Bonus points to me for running away and keeping my head on straight.

"Did he try to kiss you?"

Damn " Yes."

I saw Roses eyes widen.

"When?!"

"At the New Years Eve party. I turned away and that's why I left."

"What are you going to do about this?"

That was a question I should have expected, but I wasn't. I thought she was just going to ask about what happened up to this point. I took a moment to think about my response. I knew I wanted to be with Al, but now was not the time.

"I want to be with him, but not yet. I'm just going to wait and see what happens."

Rose nodded her head.

"To me that sounds like a good idea. Give time to see what Claire is going to do. Because you know she's not going to be happy about this. Best to keep yourself distanced until she cools off. Well that's all I've got for now. Just be carful Ry. Al is amazing, but he's made some poor choices that he will have as baggage now. And you're going to have to deal with that if you're going to date him. Honestly, I think that the two of you would be great together. Just not yet."

It was my to turn nod as I stood up.

"I'll see you in the common room." I told her as I walked toward the door.

"If he's out there send him in. No use in delaying this any further. I hope he's as straight forward as you are."

I almost froze when she mentioned him. I was not ready to see him yet. I needed a night of good sleep before facing him. But if I stopped now I knew Rose would ask me why. I slowly opened the door holding my breath. And saw and empty hallway. Thank Merlin.

I stepped out into the hall and turned to close the door.

"Is she in there?" a deep voice asked.

I almost jumped out of my skin.

"Merlin you scared me!" I yelled at him.

"Sorry." Al told me. He was standing on the other side of the door. A yo-yo from his uncle's joke shop in his hands.

"Been waiting long?" I asked politely.

"A few minutes."

I could feel the tension between us. And this wasn't your everyday sexual tension. It was worse. Much worse. It was awkward tension. I hate awkward tension. And Al and I have never had that before so to me that made it even more awkward.

"Well I'll head on in. Better to get this over with now. See you Riley." He called as he opened the door. His hands deep in his pockets.

"Bye Al" I called to him.

I thought I was tired before, but now I felt like I had just been run over the Knight Bus. I was going to go and crash in my bed. And if Merlin was with me he would make tomorrow a cake walk.

Thank you for reading! I can't even express how grateful I am that people are still reading this. The reviews that I have gotten are the things that keep me going with this story. Please let me know what you think of this chapter.

-Konwin