A/N: Ok, so I tried to get this going as quickly as possible, so I'm sorry it took so long to actually get up!

Chapter 16

The rest of the room seemed to melt away as we stared at each other, breathing heavily. His eyes bored into mine and I nearly looked away from the intensity. I wasn't sure what made me say it, but now that I had it felt right. I did want him, regardless of how wrong it was. I didn't want him with Rhea or anyone else, because I wanted him with me.

Finally, he spoke, much more quietly than we previously had been. "Do you really mean that?"

I opened my mouth to say something, anything, but no sound came out. Instead, I just nodded mutely.

"Because if you don't, now's the time to say something," he pushed on, still staring at me.

"I mean it."

"Let's get one thing clear, then. I'm not letting you back out of this in the morning. Not this time. No second thoughts."

"No second thoughts," I repeated quietly, taking a decisive step forward. This was what I wanted, and it wasn't the alcohol deciding that for me. The alcohol only made me brave enough to act on it. "I want you."

He stared at me for another couple of seconds before he moved too fast for me to see and pressed his lips to mine firmly, his hands cradling my face. I bent backward with the surprise of it, wrapping my arms around his neck to pull him with me. His arms moved to wrap around my waist tightly as my fingers wove through his hair and he deepened the kiss. I pulled him even closer, if that was possible. After what felt like ages we pulled apart to breathe, and I became aware of the sound of breaking glass to our left.

My face turned bright red as I turned to survey the area around us. Not everyone was staring. Those who were, though, looked as though they were staring at Fluffy the three-headed dog. Ben was looking on with obvious surprise, Gage looked mildly amused, and then I saw Adrian. He looked absolutely livid, red-faced and holding a crushed plastic cup. And then my eyes came to rest on the three people whose reactions I actually cared about. Emily was smiling in a smug manner, her arms crossed, while Dom was staring, open-mouthed with a broken glass at her feet. Al was staring with a mix of mild bewilderment and anger, though I'd expected more. I took a step back from Scorpius as he did the same from me. I felt suddenly sober, realizing what I'd just done. I'd kissed Scorpius. In public. There was no turning back now.

I glanced up at Scorpius briefly, both of us coming to a silent understanding to figure out what to do next after we'd spoken to Al and Dom. We stayed separated by a good foot as we approached the three of them. Dom continued to stare at us, her mouth flapping like a Kelpie. Finally, she seemed to find words. Or sound, at least. Her ear-splitting squeal made me wince as she rushed over to us, engulfing the two of us in a hug. I glanced up at Scorpius to see I wasn't the only one both shocked and uncomfortable at her reaction.

"Finally!" She squealed, before promptly turning away and melting back into the crowd.

I watched her bound away, frowning a bit in confusion. "I didn't expect her to take it so… well…"

"What was that?" Scorpius asked, staring after the spot she'd disappeared.

None of us had an answer for that, so instead I turned to Albus.

"Al?" I asked tentatively.

"What were my rules, Scorpius?" Al asked, looking straight at his best friend instead of me. His voice was strangely calm.

"C'mon, mate-"

"No! I had two rules for our friendship. Two! That's it. Tell me what they were," he demanded with much more agitation this time.

I opened my mouth to object but Scorpius cut me off in a resigned tone.

"You won't judge me if I don't judge you."

"And?"

"And your cousins and sister are off-limits," I heard him mumble.

I gaped at him, hardly believing my ears. "I'm sorry, you said what, Albus? Who are you to put limits on that? You can't control what I do, nor what he does for that matter."

"I know what he's like, though, Rose! He's my best mate! As soon as I saw the way he was looking at you I knew I had to-"

"Wait, what?" I cut him off, completely confused.

"Last year. I caught him staring at you and I knew exactly what he was thinking. I'd seen that look so many times before and I wouldn't let him make you into another-"

"Another what? You really think he'd use me? You really think I'd let myself be used? He's your best mate, Albus. Surely you'd give him the benefit of the doubt here. He's not stupid enough to risk his friendship with you for nothing."

"He's also standing right here," Scorpius chimed in, "And she's right, Al. I don't see her the way I used to see other girls. I can't explain it, but I can tell you she's not just a good time to me, mate. Whatever this is, it's a game changer," he finished, looking at me instead of Al. I felt my heart flip at his admission.

"For me, too," I added, looking straight back at him.

We both turned our attention back to Al as he spoke. "This coming from two people who couldn't stand each other up until a year ago, and then only dealt with each other for me. Merlin, you two didn't know the first thing about each other up until September! How did this even happen?!"

We both cast around for words to explain what neither of us understood.

"We don't even know what this is yet, Al," I told him desperately. I wasn't going to let Scorpius lose Al over this. "Don't blame him for it either. I'm the one who crossed the line first."

"Yeah, it really looked like you were taking advantage of him just now," Al snapped sarcastically.

"Ok, you know what? Let's all just take a breath." Emily said, stepping between me and my cousin.

I thought he was going to refuse, but to my great surprise he finally nodded, setting his jaw and glancing at us once more before leaving the room, muttering something about needing space.

"What was that all about?" I asked, completely confused. "I didn't expect that at all."

Scorpius shrugged, scuffing his shoe on the ground.

I turned to stand in front of him, frowning. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he tried, forcing a smile.

I stared back at him.

"Look, I think I just need some time, ok?"

I blinked. "What?"

"You took me by surprise and I just kind of reacted without thinking. You tend to have that effect on me…"

"I don't understand."

"Before, you were worried about what people thought," He said. I felt my face grow hot as I eventually nodded. "Well, I only care about what one person thinks, and if he can't support whatever this is then…" He trailed off, but I didn't need him to finish that sentence.

I felt tears prick at my eyes and felt the sudden urge to escape the room.

"Rose…"

"No, no, I get it. He's important to you. I just… need some air."

Ignoring his attempt to catch my wrist, I skirted around him and headed out to the corridor. I finally decided what I wanted and Al could ruin it all.

"Rose! Rose, wait!"

I turned to see Emily running after me. I stopped, taking a deep breath.

"What's going on?"

I drew in another shaky breath. "He said he needed time. He needed to know what Al was going to say because if Al won't be ok with it, then… well, then all of this was for nothing."

Em was silent for a few seconds. "Wow."

"Yeah."

We stood in silence for a bit longer before Emily straightened up suddenly. "Ok, here's what we do. You go back to your dorm and wait for Scorpius to come back. You tell him I'm sorting it."

"What are you going to do?" I asked her suspiciously.

"I'm going to sort it," she told me slowly and clearly.

I rolled my eyes at her, "I got that. I mean how."

"I'm going to talk some sense into Albus."

"Shouldn't I-"

"No, definitely not. No offence, but the two of you are the last people he needs to hear from right now. He needs a neutral voice of reason," she smiled widely, "It took him by surprise, that's all. He wants to be happy for the two of you; he just doesn't know it yet. I'll make sure he does."

I tried to quash the foreboding feeling in my gut as she hurried off toward Gryffindor Tower. This would all work out… right?

Scorpius didn't return until half past one in the morning. I sat up straighter as he took notice of me and his eyes closed momentarily.

"Before you say anything, Emily's talking to Al," I told him. "He didn't really mean any of those things he said about you. You know that, right?"

He nodded.

"He doesn't. He's just… being Al. He's being protective like he always is, and he said things he didn't mean. It'll all work out in the morning," I continued, moving to stand in front of him.

"I hope you're right," he finally replied, looking over the top of my head.

"I am."

He cracked a bit of a smile at my certainty before bringing his hands to cradle my cheeks and placing a soft kiss on my forehead. Murmuring, "Goodnight, Rose," he headed up the stairs to his room.

"Goodnight," I whispered after him.

The next morning I rolled over onto my stomach, feeling much lighter and less hungover than I had the last time I'd gone to a party. I also remembered everything with startling clarity. I'd kissed Scorpius. Willingly. I'd admitted to wanting him. Willingly. And then along came Albus.

I groaned, covering my head with my pillow in an attempt to shut out the world. When that failed, I grabbed a quick shower and dressed lazily in jeans and a fitted tank top before heading off in search of Emily. I wanted to know what kind of headway she'd made with Al, if any.

I spotted her sitting by the fire in the Gryffindor common room when I arrived, reading a letter with a serious expression on her face.

"Hey," I greeted. I didn't want it to seem like I was only here for one reason.

She gave me a small smile. "I talked to Al last night and I think it'll be ok."

"Really? Thank Merlin."

"He's just worried about what will happen if it goes wrong."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if the two of you call it quits, he's pretty much lost his best friend, Rose," she told me, "He couldn't very well bring Scorpius round if you're there, now could he? It would be like betraying his family."

I scoffed, "That's ridiculous. I would never expect him to do that, and I'm sure we could all be adults about it. Well, except James and Fred, perhaps."

"Yeah, really."

"What did James do?" I asked, knowing there was a story behind her answer straight away.

Emily sighed. "It's not so much what he's done but how he's been lately. He's always dodging the serious conversations, turning it into a joke. I just wish he'd take life a little more seriously sometimes. I feel like I'm the only one trying to sort out how we're going to work next year."

"He probably doesn't want to face it. This year has been hard enough on you two already, so why would he want to think ahead to the four more you may have left?" I pointed out.

"I just… I don't know what to do, Rose! We should be talking about this and we're not. I'm starting to get my letters and I can't decide where to go if he won't tell me what he thinks of any of it!"

"Is that what that letter is?" I asked, pointing to the paper I'd seen her reading.

She nodded, "I already got accepted to the program in London."

"Emily! That's awesome!"

Another nod, this one apprehensive. "This one told me that I also got accepted to the one in France."

That, I wasn't expecting. "You applied to the one in France? Isn't that one really hard to get into?"

"I figured it was a long shot so I tried, just to see if I could."

"And you did?"

She nodded, almost smiling.

"Em, that's amazing!" I exclaimed, hugging her tightly.

"But what am I going to do about it? Even if I go to the one in London, James will still be in Hogsmeade. And how am I supposed to start a life there? I want to work in an actual hospital, not run a clinic out of my house as a village healer. I can't ask him to give up his dreams for mine, but I won't give up mine for him, either. If either of us does, we'll just end up resenting each other in the long run. And I can't even tell him all of this because he refuses to talk about it!"

"Whoa, ok, slow down. Take a breath. Just lay it all out for him. Tell him you need to have the serious conversations, but don't panic. Em, it's only Janurary. You have time."

"I need to choose by the beginning of March. How can I make this kind of decision in a month and a half?"

"Just follow your instincts."

Her reply was halted by the appearance of Al in the portrait hole. I stood automatically as he headed toward us.

"Before you say anything, I just came from apologizing to Scor for what I said last night. I also gave him my blessing to pursue… whatever it is," he told me in a resigned tone.

"Not that I needed it, but thank you, Al, because he did."

"So Emily told me."

"Look, I don't want this to ruin your friendship with him," I told him seriously. He nodded. "I would hate to be the cause of such a bromance going to waste."

He cracked a smile at that, frowning when he looked over my shoulder. "What's up with Em?"

"Nothing," I covered quickly. She hadn't spilled my secrets, so I wouldn't spill hers.

We said our goodbyes and I headed toward the dormitory, intent on finding Scorpius. Now that the whole Albus situation was figured out, it was probably time we actually decided what we wanted. Emily's outburst had given me a lot to think about as I walked. Even though I wanted this, what was going to happen once we graduated? (Assuming we made it that long). I was looking up different Alchemy internships to apply for, and Scorpius wanted to become a lawyer. Where would that leave us? Would we find places in London, or would we end up on opposite sides of the country? He was supposed to live with Al, but what if he couldn't continue his education in London? What if Al suddenly decided to attend a different Auror training program?

There were too many what ifs for me to possibly worry about them all. Instead, I shut my brain down for a change and stepped through the portrait hole. Scorpius was sitting on the couch, wringing his hands. He looked up automatically as he heard my footsteps and jumped to his feet. I could sense his nervousness since it matched my own. Last night I'd been much more courageous and sure. Now, I had no idea what to say.

"So…"

"So…"

I'm glad he was just as lost for words.

"Is this where you back out?" He asked. I could tell part of him was joking, but truth rung behind his words.

I took a deep breath. Now would be the time if I ever wanted to. "No. This is where I tell you that I meant everything."

A small, relieved smile twitched his lips upward for a brief moment before he sighed and sat back down. When I remained standing he turned to look at me expectantly. "Well, aren't you going to sit down? I get the feeling we have a lot to talk about and I can't imagine you want to stand for the duration of it."

I blushed, stepping forward and perching on the edge of the couch beside him.

"Ok, so… where do we start?" I asked, wringing my hands. Why was I so nervous?

"Don't ask me," Scorpius told me, laughing, "You're the one making all the declarations."

I shot him a look. "Well if that's true then maybe you need to make a declaration of your own. I can't be the only one."

He smiled in defeat, asking in a mocking tone, "Is this where I ask you to 'go steady' with me?"

I did my best to keep a straight face as I replied, "Yes. That's exactly it."

He blanched, "You're serious?"

"Dead serious."

He shook his head in disbelief before finally turning his head to look at me from where he sat with his forearms resting on his knees and sighed. "Fine. Rose Weasley, will you 'go steady' with me?"

I kept a straight face for as long as possible before I burst out laughing. Once I started, I couldn't control it and doubled over with the force of it, finally emerging from my fit to find him staring at me incredulously.

"I- I'm sorry," I finally choked out, "I just… wanted to see if… you'd… do it."

He stared blankly at me.

Finally getting myself under control, I grinned, "Sorry, I couldn't resist."

"You're an awful person, you know that, right?"

I nodded, trying to clamp down on the laughter still trying to break through.

"It's a wonder I like you at all."

That sobered me up, mostly because it was true. Why exactly did we like each other? Like Al said, we'd hated each other for so long yet suddenly we were… well… going steady? I almost laughed again at the words. "You know, I think after you ask someone to go steady, you're supposed to give them something personal of yours so people know you're together."

He raised his eyebrows, "Did I miss the part where you actually answered the question?"

Thinking back, I realized he was right; I'd been too busy laughing. "Well, I suppose… If you insist…"

He leaned closer and I sucked in a breath at his sudden proximity. "After everything you've just put me through, you better believe I insist."

I managed to nod when I realized no words were going to come out. He was much too close for coherent thought. My eyelids fluttered shut just when his lips ghosted over mine, before suddenly all I felt was a rush of cold air. I opened my eyes in surprise to find him reading the book open on the table once more. The smirk on his face when he glanced over at me only mustered a small amount of anger, quickly overshadowed by a desire to kiss him.

It took me a few seconds to realize I could actually act on that desire, but once I did I wasted no time in following through.

"I take that as a yes, then?" He asked as I leaned back for air.

"Definitely," I replied, moving to kiss him again. Now all that was left was talking to Vanhousen... and our parents… but they could wait. Against all odds, my relationship with Scorpius Malfoy had changed.

A/N: Ok, so it's about 2,000 words shorter than usual but I really wanted to get something up because my computer just started doing weird things so I'll have to take it in tonight and who knows when I'll get it back. I'm not sure how I feel about the relationship status conversation, mostly because every possible version of it I wrote was super awkward so I just had to settle on one. I figured this was a bit awkward, but used the awkwardness to make it a bit humorous, too. So, what are your thoughts on it? Also, what do you think Vanhousen will do? Make them move back to their separate Houses? Enchant Scorpius's staircase, too, so Rose can't go up there? Expel them and ruin their dreams?