A/N: Ok, so I'm trying my best to sneak in some writing every so often but the multitude of papers my professors see fit to assign me are making that very difficult. I'm sorry it's taking so long! This isn't as long as I'd hoped, but I really felt the pressure to at least update once in the past few months… Christmas is fast approaching so it should get better for awhile! Again, SO sorry I fail at this! I'd like to thank those of you who have stuck around through all of this.

Chapter 19

"You have to make up your mind eventually, you know," I told James, leaning against the counter of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. "She's pretty miserable up there waiting for you to decide what you're doing."

James fiddled with the sleeve of his robes as he sighed, "I know. I just- She's right. We aren't the same as we were last year. All the talk about not letting distance get to us and it ended up doing just that. We're different; we're tip-toeing around each other and I don't like it."

"So do something about it," I said simply.

"It's not that easy, Rose. You don't understand."

"I don't understand? Seriously? After what happened with Adrian last term I should think you'd know better than that. I spent the entire time tip-toeing around him trying not to cause problems and I was miserable."

"And look how that worked out for you. You and Davies are through."

"True," I replied carefully, "But that was a slightly different situation. I was the only one tip-toeing because I was the only one fighting to keep the peace and make it work. You're both trying to make this work. You both want this to work. Adrian just wanted me to be the girl he fell in love with and, like it or not, I'm not her anymore."

It was true. I'd been ridiculous, trying not to change while everything was spiralling out of control around me. I couldn't stop time from moving forward, but I could hold onto the Rose I used to be and prevent anything more from changing. I could continue to hate Scorpius, date Adrian, pursue a career at the Ministry, and be generally what was expected of a Weasley. Except somewhere along the way I realized Scorpius was just like me. He understood my struggle, and I understood his. I could show him the cracks in my façade, unlike Albus or Dominique. He wasn't my family, and he didn't judge. I realized it was alright to change, even if that meant making some waves and defying expectations. Adrian hadn't supported me like I needed him to, like Emily needed James to. I was confident that, if James could see past his anger and realize this, they could do what Adrian and I couldn't, even if it killed my best friend. I shifted uncomfortably at the thought, but otherwise maintained my straight face.

James ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know, Rose. Even a few months of distance messed with us. What will two more years do?"

I really didn't have a good answer for that. "No one can predict the future, cuz," I told him sadly, "But which would you regret more? Trying to make it work and knowing it didn't, or giving up with the possibility that it could have?"

Scorpius started when I climbed through the portrait hole half an hour later.

I laughed. "What's got you so jumpy?"

He grinned shakily, straightening his textbook on the table in front of him. "Just wasn't expecting you back for a while yet."

"Yeah, well there's only so much angst-ridden James a person can take. It's hasn't been this bad since the 'I love you' fiasco," I sighed, dropping down on the couch beside him.

He quirked an eyebrow and I knew he wanted me to elaborate. Sometimes it frightened me how well we knew each other for only being friends, and now more, for a little over five months.

"When he first told her that he loved her, she showed up in my room in tears, prattling on about how it was such an awful thing and they were doomed to fail."

He got points for trying to keep the laughter in, even if he failed miserably. "Wait, what? How is that an awful thing?"

I shrugged, "I guess you have to know Em really well to understand. Her parents went through an ugly divorce during third year. They had a loving marriage for years until they just didn't. Now I guess she feels like love is the high point of relationships and then it's all downhill from there. Anyways, she freaked out when James said the words…"

"Em? Em what's wrong? Did you guys have a fight? Emily!" I snapped, trying to get her attention.

"Emily, hey, what's going on? What happened?" Al asked in a soft, soothing voice I scarcely knew he had in his repertoire. We'd been having one of our strangely more frequent 'best friend' nights over Easter break when Emily had tumbled out of the fireplace. I sat on the couch, shocked into immobility by Emily's sudden state. I'd never seen her like this before. Al, on the other hand, was always good in a crisis. I expected him to bail the second he saw Em's face but he seemed to sense I had no clue as to how to help her and instead hurried over to try to calm her down. I watched as he placed one hand gently on her cheek, stroking her hair with the other as he finally caught her frantic gaze. "What is it?"

"Everything is ruined!" She sobbed, sinking to the floor and bringing Al with her. "Why did he have to say it?"

"What? How? What are you on about?" I asked, even more confused. As far as I knew she and James were just supposed to be hanging out, nothing huge or ground-breaking.

"He- He told me- he said that he loved me," she finally choked out. Al pulled back as though she'd burned him. "He said it and I panicked and left!"

Looking back, it was now obvious that Al hadn't been concerned for my utter uselessness in a crisis. I also now understood why he'd taken off so quickly after those words came out.

"Wow. I can see why that might cause some problems," Scorpius mused.

"It took three weeks to sort out. Longest fight they've ever had, until now. I want to fix it but…"

"You can't," he finished.

"Do you trust me?" I asked suddenly.

His head jerked back a bit in surprise. "Of course, why?"

"Are you a jealous person?"

His brow furrowed. "Not really… what's with the twenty questions?"

"I just… It's always about trust and jealousy. She doesn't trust and he's jealous, or she's jealous and he doesn't trust."

"You lost me, Weasley."

I sat up straight, turning to face him and tucking a leg underneath me. "It's the root of every failed relationship. Adrian didn't trust me and he was jealous. Dom's the one making people jealous but she never gets close enough to try trust. James and Emily take it in turns to be both."

He nodded, understanding what I meant without me having to say it. "I trust you, Rose. And I know you couldn't possibly find anyone better than me, so who's there to be jealous of?" He said cheekily.

I rolled my eyes, grinning. "Well you definitely couldn't find anyone else who would put up with you so I don't need to be jealous either."

I leaned back against the couch, still smiling.

"Right, well… I'm off to bed…" Scorpius broke the silence, leaning over to press a quick kiss to my lips. "Glad we had this talk?"

I didn't reply, but turned his words over in my mind after he'd gone. Maybe I'd moved too fast. Maybe it was too soon to have such serious conversations. We hadn't actually been together that long, but no matter how many times I told myself that it didn't seem to stick. Everything was going much faster than I anticipated, but it felt right. Dom's standard dating theory didn't apply to us, and I was perfectly fine with that, even if she thought it made me an abomination. Sighing, I hauled myself to my feet, bumping the table and accidentally knocking Scorpius's textbook askew as I did. Automatically reaching out to straighten it, I noticed a piece of parchment sticking out from under the cover. I frowned slightly, thinking it an odd place to keep spare parchment, but tucked it back inside nonetheless.

Three days later, Emily sat beside me at breakfast looking happier than I'd seen her since the fight started. When I asked, she told me that James wanted to work it out. I caught Al's posture stooping lower over his porridge as the words left her mouth, but everyone else seemed oblivious. Dom immediately proclaimed that she knew they'd sort it all out and launched into plans for the four of them to go on a double date next Hogsmeade weekend.

"You and Scorpius should join, too, Rose!" She exclaimed.

I tried my best not to cringe. A triple date was not my idea of a good time, even if Dom and Em now approved of my boyfriend. I almost laughed to myself, thinking how backwards it was that they approved of Scorpius Malfoy over Adrian Davies. "Thanks, but I think Scor's got other plans so I was going to drag Al along with me."

Albus seemed to have recovered enough to be his usual snarky self as he raised an eyebrow. "Oh you will now, will you?"

"Yep," I replied, popping the 'p'.

"And what if I've already got plans?" He challenged.

I scoffed, "Like you could have plans as good as going with me."

"I was actually planning on starting my revision…" He hedged, looking back down into his nearly empty bowl.

"You have a terrible poker face, Albus Severus Potter."

His cheeks automatically reddened at the sound of his full name, something that never ceased to amuse me. "I just don't really fancy a trip to Hogsmede, that's all. I was planning to stay back."

I finally caught on to his meaning. He didn't want to go when Emily and James would be there. "Well then, maybe you should start on your revision. Exams are coming on quickly. I'll help you make a schedule."

He groaned around a mouthful of porridge. "If I make Scor cancel whatever it is he's doing, will you go with that lot and leave me be to put off studying in peace?"

I shook my head, grinning at him. To his credit, he accepted defeat rather quickly. Maybe he understood that I was only trying to keep him occupied, because I knew that if I didn't he'd spend the entire day moping around. He may be charming girls at parties, but he definitely wasn't up to the task when sober. This was what I could do, since I wanted so badly to do something. I could help my cousin move on, regardless of whether or not he wanted to. It was what needed to happen.

"What's Scor doing anyways?" He asked.

I shrugged, "He said something about meeting his father at some point so I figured I'd keep a fair distance from that."

Al shuddered. "Good idea. The man intimidates me."

"Thanks, Al. That's really comforting to know for when I actually do meet him."

Dom quirked an eyebrow at this, interested in the conversation again. "When? So this is actually happening then? At some point you're going to meet his parents and he's going to meet yours?"

"That's usually what happens when people date, Dom," I explained slowly, "What did you think, we'd run off after Hogwarts and hide out in some mountain cave together?"

She considered for a moment before nodding. "Essentially."

By the time the Hogsmede weekend rolled around all was almost back to normal. Emily and James were blissfully happy again, Al appeared to be growing accustomed to it once more, and Dom had a new boyfriend of the month. Only Scorpius seemed a bit off. When I'd questioned him on his uncharacteristic distance and quiet, he claimed it was nerves at the prospect of seeing his father, but I sensed more anger than apprehension. After our conversation about trust I couldn't help but wonder if he'd been lying.

"Relax, Rose," Dom assured me when I tentatively brought it up the Friday before. "He's probably just nervous, like he says. And if not, he'll tell you when he's ready."

She was right, of course. I'd asked if he trusted me, but now I needed to trust him. There was a reason he wasn't telling me what was weighing on his mind, and I had to trust that it was a good one. Everyone was entitled to a few secrets, anyways. Merlin knows we'd both kept our fair share of them.

"Have you told Al about the whole Law thing yet?" I asked suddenly into the silence of our common room. It had just occurred to me that this could be part of the reason he'd been so withdrawn lately.

"Er, no. Not yet. I've been- waiting for the right time," he answered, looking into the fire.

"I'm sorry if I-"

His head turned to focus on me. "Rose, you didn't pressure me into this. It's time. I just… need to figure out how to tell him I want to defend criminals."

I smiled softly at that, reaching across the couch to lay my hand over his. "He's your best mate. He'll accept whatever decision you make, and he'll probably do it by grunting some non-committal response."

His lips twitched at that. "You're right. I'm overthinking."

"Of course I am," I told him confidently.

His lips took on a full smile then, though it didn't quite reach his eyes. Choosing to ignore it, I returned his smile before announcing my intentions to call it a night.

As I turned back to glance at him before ascending the staircase, I saw him already preoccupied with his textbook, a slight frown on his face.

I had way too many books. In an effort to continue the pretense of helping Al with revision, I'd grabbed as many as I could reasonably levitate in front of me before I set off to Gryffindor Tower the morning of the Hogsmede trip. Of course, I'd stacked just a couple too high and they all came tumbling down as they made contact with something on the other side of the corner I'd been trying to direct them around. That's what I get for being lazy. I got another unfortunate shock when I followed the path I'd sent them on the pick them all up and found that they hadn't hit a thing so much as a person. My ex-boyfriend, to be exact. Great.

"Er, hi," I said, looking everywhere but at Adrian, "Sorry about that."

"No big deal," he replied, trying for levity. His voice was as strained as mine, however, so I knew he was faking it.

"How, er, how have you been?" I questioned, kneeling to begin restacking the books.

"Fine. You?" He asked, stooping down to help me.

"Fine," I replied vaguely, because he didn't want to know the real answer. He didn't want to know that I was happy.

He nodded stiffly, handing me the last book as we stood in unison. I smiled stiffly in thanks and he shoved his hands in his pockets. It was odd, how quickly we became strangers again. Though after everything went down I couldn't say I expected us to be best friends.

"I, er, have to go," he mumbled finally, "Detention."

I nodded in understanding. His stunt on the Quidditch pitch had gotten him Saturday detention for the remainder of the school year, not to mention the black mark it would leave on his record. He deserved it, I knew, but I still felt… something close to sympathy when I thought about the repercussions of his jealousy. Shaking it off, I pointed my wand toward the books to re-levitate them. Just as I was about to turn the next corner, his voice stopped me.

"Rose?"

I turned back, heart beating double-time in my chest. This whole encounter was unsettling. "Yeah?"

"I'm glad you're happy," he told me softly. I just barely heard him. "And I really am sorry."

I wasn't sure what I could say to that, but he turned the corner and disappeared before I could try to respond. I honestly wasn't sure how I felt about the whole thing. What Adrian had done was inexcusable, but he seemed genuinely sorry. His actions hadn't left me as thoroughly disgusted with him as I'd expected. Not so long ago, I had been in love with him, and I was sure I would always love him in a way, but it shocked me how neutral I felt toward him. He'd left Scorpius's Quidditch future hanging in the balance, yet I couldn't find it within myself to actively hate him as Dom seemed so able to. I was still turning everything over in my mind as I dropped down on the couch next to Albus. He raised an eyebrow at my demeanor but I simply shook my head. He knew not to press, instead leaning his head back on the couch and copying my posture. We sat there for a full five minutes before he reached over and took the top book off my stack. We studied the entire time and he didn't protest once.

I returned from my day of studying to find Scorpius sitting stiffly in the same spot he'd occupied on the couch the past few nights. This time he made no effort to conceal the parchment he clutched in his hand as I entered. I debated the wisdom of joining him before throwing caution to the wind and sitting beside him.

"Everything ok?" I asked quietly.

He was silent for a long while. Just when I decided he was planning to ignore my question, he bit out an answer. "No."

"Did the meeting with your father not go well?"

"You could say that."

"Scorpius, what's going on?" I finally asked, impatient. Not the best tactic, but that was Rose Weasley for you. "You've been jumpy and cagey for a while now. It's like you're hiding something. What's with that piece of parchment?"

He closed his eyes briefly at my questions, and I was afraid for a moment that he was going to tell me to mind my own business. Instead, he seemed to be working himself up to something.

"It's a letter," he finally told me, "From my grandfather Lucius. He wants to meet me."

A/N: Ok, so I really just want to post something so I put off some stuff until future chapters because I feel awful! Just thought I'd let Scorpius have a bit of an internal struggle since most of the stuff so far has been about Rose's inner struggle and her difficulties balancing being a Weasley and being herself. Now, I'll get a bit into the different levels of that conflict Scorpius faces being a Malfoy, as well as a bit more background of the Malfoys after the War.