Author's note: This chapter is dedicated to Vil89Six, my 100th reviewer!

Also thanks to everyone who made my goal of reaching 100 review possible by reviewing themselves. You guys are amazing! Can we reach 150? Let's see…

Chapter 21: Winter Festivities

(Albus's pov)

Luck is really a fantastic thing. Without it, I don't think I would have ever gotten the courage to tell Alana about my feelings for her. With that extra boost of confidence that I got from Scorpius's Felix Felicis, I did just that. And Merlin, am I glad I did.

Right in between breakfast and the first class of the day, I managed to get Alana away from Luke and lead her to an abandoned corridor. The corridor was an open corridor with large gaps in the walls, and the Black Lake was visible just outside. It was a really spectacular view. "So what's so important that you have to bring me all the way here just to tell me?" Alana asked once we were alone.

"Alana," I sighed. "I've been wanting to tell you something for a while now. Ever since the Halloween party, I can't stop thinking about that night and my feelings. And Alana, I've known for quite awhile that my feelings I've been have are really romantic feelings, feelings that I can't control. Feelings for you. Now, I know this is a bad time because you're dating Luke and all, but I just had to tell you. It's about time you knew."

Alana just stared at me in shock, and I could see her shaking slightly. "Alana, say something." I begged. Instead of speaking, however, Alana leaned forward and kissed me, right on the lips. It was long and lingering, and seemingly much more passionate than the kisses she shared with Luke. It was also very graceful and it just felt right, instead of slightly clumsy and awkward as Alana usually was.

When Alana finally broke away from me, she let out a miserable groan. "What's wrong?" I asked, concerned that she hadn't meant to kiss me at all.

"Nothing," Alana sighed. "It's just that I wish you told me sooner."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because I'm in love with you too." Alana admitted. "And I would have never agreed to go out with Luke if I knew you loved me back. Now I'm in this mess that I have no idea how to get out of."

"Well," I sighed. "I guess you have two options. The first one would be to continue dating Luke."

"I don't think I can do that." Alana laughed weakly. "I'd be too miserable. I mean, Luke's a nice guy and all, but knowing that you actually do fancy me… it would be too painful."

I smiled. "Yeah, I don't really like that option either. So your other choice would be to break up with him, then."

Alana sighed. "I guess it is. The question is, how do I do it?"

I sighed again. "I honestly have no idea."

(Rose's pov)

Ever since breakfast, Albus had been in an extremely good mood. He was happier than I've seen him in a long time, probably since October. Unfortunately, Albus's happiness came at a price.

Luke Phillips was in a mood the exact opposite of Albus's. He and Alana were late to lunch, and when Alana finally did come, she was alone. She was extremely quiet, though, and joined in the conversation as little as possible. Luke did come to our next class, but he seemed very angry at something, and he refused to talk to anybody. Since Luke was so angry and Albus was so happy, and since Alana was in the middle of a love triangle between the two boys, I wondered if she had anything to do with this, so I decided to ask her about it after class. Somehow, I managed to pull her aside so that I could talk to her in private.

"So, I noticed Luke seems to be in a terrible mood this morning, while Albus is in a rather joyful one." I said, trying to sound casual. "Do you have any idea why?"

Alana blushed. "I… I don't know. But I assure you, I had nothing to do with it." she said quickly. However, Alana and I both knew that she was a terrible liar.

I raised my eyebrows at her. "Come on, Alana." I said. "I know you better than that."

Alana sighed. "Albus told me that he fancied me."

"Really?" I asked, attempting to sound surprised. "I thought he'd never tell you."

"You knew he fancied me?" Alana asked. "Why didn't you tell me?"

I shrugged. "I thought he should tell you himself. You wouldn't want me telling him that you fancy him, would you?"

Alana hesitated. "Well, no… I suppose not."

"So, what did you do when he told you?" I asked curiously.

"I... I kissed him."

This time I didn't have to fake my surprised expression. "Wow, no wonder Al is in such a good mood. But what about Luke?"

"I broke up with him." Alana muttered.

Whoa. That was unexpected. "What did you tell him?" I whispered. Luke seemed to be in love with Alana, just as I was in love with Scorpius, and I couldn't imagine what it would be like for Scorpius to break up with me for another girl. I just know that it would be too painful to bear.

Alana sighed again. "I told him I couldn't be with him because my heart belonged to someone else, and when he asked who that person was, I told him. I didn't have a choice."

"And then what happened?" Surprisingly, I was actually interested in this, and curiosity was getting the better of me.

"He was angry." Alana admitted. "Very angry. He said, 'I guess I was wrong about you not being the kind of girl that leads a guy on when all I want to do is love you. But if you'd rather be with 'Oh-Look-At-Me-I'm-The-Son-Of-The-Most-Famous-Man-In-The-Wizarding-World-And-Therefore-I'm-Better-Than-The-Rest-Of-You' than me, then so be it.' and then he stormed out of the common room and went who knows where. Not to breakfast, we know that."

"Albus isn't like that at all!" I protested angrily. "Luke made him seem like an arrogant prat."

"You and I know that, and I think Luke knows it too, but you have to understand that he was just really hurt." Alana said softly.

"Whatever." I muttered, still upset that Luke had talked about my cousin, his friend, that way. "Are you and Al together, then?"

"I think so." Alana replied. "I really want to be, after all that chaos."

"Good." I said, and together we set off for our next class.

(Scorpius's pov)

My plan worked marvelously. By the end of the day, Albus and Alana were walking through the corridors with their hands interlocked. There was a downside to this, though. Luke was in an angry mood the entire day that lasted for several weeks, and it was clear that he was hurt. However, Albus was my best friend, and Rose was my girlfriend, and whatever made them happy made me happy as well. Also, when Alana was with Luke, anyone could see she wasn't as happy as she should have been, but when she was with Al, one would have thought she was in her own personal heaven.

The weather was fairly warm that weekend, causing the newly fallen snow to become soft and sticky. Soon, Albus and I were involved in a snowball fight against Alana and Rose. Since we were a pair of couples in love, this snowball fight was not like any other. It was more playful and flirtatious, and the girls were just as competitive as Al and I, and it was a good fight. Unfortunately, Rose and Alana won in the end, giving them humiliating bragging rights.

After the snowball fight, we began building snowmen and snowwomen and transfiguring them to look remarkably like various professors. We were in the process of making the "Hagrid" snowman when the half-giant, Care of Magical Creatures professor himself came trudging along through the snow. "That looks like me!" Hagrid greeted. The professor, being half-giant was quite large, and had a shaggy beard that was now grey but apparently had been very dark in color in his younger days. Despite his intimidating looks, Hagrid wouldn't dream of harming a living creature, unless they were threatening the things he loved most, such as Hogwarts' students or one of his many beloved pets. Unfortunately, this caused many students to take advantage of and disrespect him. Hagrid had always been close to Albus's father and both of Rose's parents, and as a result he was close to Rose, Albus, James, Lily, and Hugo as well.

"Well, it's supposed to." Albus said with a shrug. "Do you like them?"

" 'Course I do. Oh, I was gonna tell yeh… yeh all are invited to this little bonfire I'm havin' tonight. These two can come too." Hagrid said, gesturing to Alana and I. "I Hope you'll come."

Rose smiled. "Sure we'll come, Hagrid." She said, and Albus, Alana, and I quickly nodded in agreement.

"Great!" exclaimed Hagrid. "And tell James an' Lily an' Hugo to come too, if yeh see 'im." With that, Hagrid continued on his way.

That night, Albus, Alana, Lily, Hugo, Rose, and I found ourselves walking to the fire pit outside of Hagrid's hut. About halfway there, James caught up to us.

"Where's Michelle?" Albus asked his older brother curiously. Michelle was James's newest girlfriend, and were all expecting him to bring her.

James shrugged. "She said she didn't want to come because it's apparently too cold out here. So I broke up with her. I can't have a wimp for a girlfriend, can I?"

Albus rolled his eyes. "James, can't you keep a girlfriend for more than two weeks?"

James frowned. "Of course I can."

"And how long was your longest relationship?" Albus asked.

James thought for a moment. "Almost two months, I think."

Lily let out an exasperated sigh. "You're pathetic, James."

"What? Why?" James asked, shocked that his little sister just called him pathetic.

"Because you seem to think girls are disposable toys that you can play with until you get bored with them, and then you can just toss them aside and move on the a new one." Lily replied. "But that's not the way we work."

"Lily, how could you say that about me?" James exclaimed. "I thought I was your favorite brother."

"Uh, James, I believe that I'm the favorite brother." Albus protested with a grin.

"Boys, settle down! You both are not my favorite brothers." Lily said, causing both brothers to frown at her but everyone else to laugh.

Hagrid saw coming down the path and came outside to meet us, along with his Boarhound, Fang II. He lit a fire in the fire pit, and we all sat in a circle around it.

"Let's see who've we got here." Hagrid said, glancing around the circle."All three Potters, Rose an' Hugo, Alana Finnegan – I remember yer father was in the Golden Trio's year – and Scorpius Malfoy." He paused for a moment. "Have I ever told yeh abou' the time yer father was stupid 'round my hippogriff?"

"What happened?" I asked in surprise.

"Well, he wasn't listenin' when I said hippogriffs were easily offended, an' what did he do? He offended 'im. Well, Buckbeak naturally clawed 'im, and Buckbeak was blamed for bein' a monster when he really wasn't. He was almost killed 'cause of it too."

"Wow. I'm sorry." I said softly, apologizing for my father's idiotic behavior.

Hagrid only shrugged. "Well, Buckbeak survived, thanks to Harry an' Hermione, so no harm done, really. Anyone else got a story to share?"

We went around the circle, each person telling a different story. Most stories were funny, while others were more serious. After a while, Rose laid her head on my chest, and I wrapped my arm around her out of habit. When it was her turn to tell a story, Rose told her parents love story, how at first her father didn't like her mother very much, as he thought she was annoying. But one day, Rose's father, Ron, and her uncle, Albus's father, Harry, saved her mother, Hermione from a troll that had been let into the castle, and the three of them had been friends over the years. Many fights and years later, Ron and Hermione slowly fell in love with each other, and they finally got together after Ron said something about how no more house elves should die fighting in the war for wizards. "I think it's the sweetest love story ever." Rose said when she was finished with her tale.

"I can think of a better one." I said with a smile.

Rose grinned. "Well, let's hear it."

"Once upon a time, there were two adjacent wizard kingdoms by the names of Malfoy and Weasley." I began and smiled as Rose looked up at me with adoration in her eyes and ignored James' snicker at the names. "The kingdom of Malfoy only allowed pure-blooded wizards to live there. The kingdom of Weasley was also at one time pure-blooded, but they welcomed anyone into their kingdom. In fact, their current queen was actually a muggle-born. For centuries, these two kingdoms did not get along, but when Prince Scorpius of Malfoy met Princess Rose of Weasley, everything changed.

"Princess Rose and Prince Scorpius met when they were eleven years old. Scorpius wanted to be friends with Rose, but she refused to trust him because he was from Malfoy. Over the years, Scorpius continued to try to earn Rose's friendship, but soon he fell hopelessly in love with her, making everything even more torturous for himself.

"One day, Scorpius found Rose crying by the river that separated their kingdoms. He soon found out she was crying because, uh…. " I was really struggling with this part. Finally, I thought of something, even if it was a little lame. "Her people were starving, and without thinking about what he was doing, Scorpius kissed her. It was several months before Scorpius and Rose saw each other again, but when they did, Rose told Scorpius that she loved him just as he loved her. They were later married, and combined their kingdoms, ending the feud forever. The end."

"That was a beautiful story, Scorpius." Rose said, giving me a quick kiss. I think James, Hugo, and even Albus thought it was a bit cheesy, though, but honestly, I didn't care. Shortly after my story, Hagrid put out the fire, and we all went back to the castle.

Back at the common room, Rose and I were only Gryffindors left outside their dorms after Albus, Alana, James, and Lily went to bed. We were putting off our goodnights for as long as possible.

"I don't want to leave you." Rose sighed. "Even if it is for a short amount of time."

"Who says we have to yet?" I whispered. I scooped Rose up in my arms and carried her to the couch in front of the fireplace, causing her to giggle. Apparently, we must have fallen asleep there, because when I woke up bright and early the following morning, my neck was stiff from lying on the couch all night, and Rose was still cradled in my arms.

Author's note: This chapter would have been up sooner, but I finally got into Pottermore, and well, you know the rest… :)

Also, sorry if Hagrid wasn't really as in character as he should have been. Because of the way he speaks, it is often hard for me to write him.

Preview for next chapter: (Draco's pov): "You know Draco, I've been thinking." Astoria said as I came into the room.

"About what, Tori?" I asked.

"Well, about Scorpius and Rose, actually. I think we should invite her and her family over for dinner sometime over the Easter holidays."