Chapter 6

Rose snatched her things up, and rushed out of the library, running through corridors and finally catching sight of Al as he turned a corner in a hurry. A few third year Hufflepuffs stared at her in a strange way as she ran after him, calling his name. He whirled around, and waited for her to reach him.

"Al, what are you gonna do? Where are you going?" Rose asked, panting.

"Take a few breaths, Rosie." Al said, placing his hands gently on the shorter girl's shoulders. "Come on. We've got History of Magic. I know you're probably not up for it, but you can sit with me, and don't worry about anything. I'll take notes for you." He smiled encouragingly at her.

Rose sighed. He was just going to class. But what was he going to do after class? She decided to go to class with him, and try to talk him out of whatever it was he was planning.

Class was boring, in fact she fell asleep. Never before had she fallen asleep in a single class; it was something her mum had always admonished Hugo about, neglecting his class work, but now that she had other things to worry about, like Al hexing Scorpius to insanity, or simply beating him to a bloody pulp, her mind was so stressed, and took the opportunity to rest. Al, true to his word, had taken double notes, and given her a set as they walked out of Professor Binns' classroom, following closely behind a few Ravenclaws.

"Listen, Al." Rose started, shoving the notes neatly into her bag. She looked up at his soft face, and kind emerald eyes, and sighed. "Please. I don't know what you're thinking about doing to- to…" she looked around the corridor at the many students bustling by, and lowered her voice. "To Scorpius," She raised her voice to normal again. "But please just don't. He's not worth it. I don't want you to get in trouble." And I don't want to imagine him lying helpless in the Hospital Wing. She cringed at the thought. No. Scorpius definitely did not belong in the Hospital Wing.

"Rose, he-"

Rose cut off her cousin before he could start yelling, because that's exactly what he looked about to do. "No, Al." she whispered heatedly. She took in his confused look, and softened. "Please," she placed a hand on his arm. "I know Al. I do, but hurting him physically isn't going to make anything better."

"It'll make me feel better." Al muttered.

"Yeah, but think about Lily. She'll be so confused, probably mad. Just don't. I promise I'll take care of this. It's my problem, something I started, and I finished, and I'm going to handle all things to do with it." Rose was surprised at how firm and strong her voice was, when really she was quite worried. Worried Al wouldn't listen, and would go do whatever he wanted anyway. Worried Lily would find out in a bad way, and hate her forever. She was even slightly worried that if she saw Scorpius, and talked to him, and got caught up in him being him, that she might do it again.

Al considered her for a few moments, before nodding reluctantly. "Alright, Rose. If you're sure."

She nodded, and hugged him. She took comfort in his strong arms, and the firm hold he had on her.

"But if you change your mind, you let me know."

She pulled away, and gave her cousin a small smile, nodding.

"Come on, we've got lunch." Al hooked his arm with Rose's and together they walked to the Great Hall for lunch.

At the entrance to the Hall, Al stopped suddenly, his fists clenching as he took in the sight at the Slytherin table. Rose looked over to see what he was looking at, and saw Lily whispering in Scorpius' ear, and a smile slowly stretched across the blonde's face. Something in her stomach burned, but she tugged her cousin over to the Gryffindor table and took seats. They sat alone, and in fact Rose noticed that not many of their cousins were around.

"They're probably relaxing in the common room, or something." She commented to Al. Well, really it was to herself, as her cousin was still glaring across the hall at an oblivious blonde Slytherin, not really paying attention to her.

After a few more minutes, she saw Scorpius rise from his table, and exit the Hall. Next to her, Albus began to exit his seat as well.

"Al!" Rose hissed, grabbing the raven-haired boy's arm. "What ar-"

"It's ok, Rosie." Al smiled at her. "I know what you said. I'm not going to do anything. You asked me not to, and I won't. I'm just gonna go up to the common room. I could use a distraction."

"Oh." She wasn't sure whether or not to believe him, but the smile on his face seemed genuine enough, so she released his arm and let him go. She strained her ears as he disappeared through the doors to the Entrance Hall, but heard no screams or shouts, and so figured all was well. She glanced over to the Slytherin Table, where Lily was sitting, wiping her face with a napkin. She watched her cousin set the napkin down and vacate her seat at the table, also disappearing through the doors. Rose sat for a while. Thinking.

Scorpius had left for class, or some other reason. Al had left for the common room shortly after, and now Lily had also left. Looking around Rose saw no face with the trademark Weasley freckles or familiar Potter messy hair. Why was that? Suspicious. There were just too many of them for her to be the only one in the Great Hall. Even Louis and Molly, the young first years were nowhere to be seen. She didn't like this. Even if it was unlikely for Al to have rallied the troops, what with not having been long out of her presence, Rose had a sinking feeling in her stomach, and she was completely uncomfortable. She pushed her plate away from her and left her seat, not entirely sure where she was heading.

Twenty minutes still remained for lunch, where should she go? Perhaps to the common room to check that Al had actually gone there and not after Scorpius. But then again, maybe she should check that Scorpius was alright, because in the time she'd go to the common room to find Al not there, who knew what could happen to the blonde. But where had Scorpius gone? To the Slytherin common room? She decided to check the dungeons first, and would make her way to the next place he could possibly be if he wasn't there.

A/N: ahh! i am soooo very sorry that it took me so long to update. i had to come back up to school, and move in, but now i'm fully moved into my apartment, and school will be starting soon, and i will be back on normal schedule. so the updates will be back at a good pace. =] no fear!

so what did you think? hmm? was Al being a good cousin? was he lying when he left the hall? where were lily and scorpius going? somewhere together? hmm? what will rose find when she goes looking for scorpius? hehe. all this and more in the next update! =]