Dalby Forest was bitingly cold, and Rose pulled her cloak more tightly around her as she began to head toward her destination. Snow fell lightly onto the already white ground, and she silently performed a charm to erase her footprints and hide her presence in the wood. She knew she didn't have much time - her assignment had said that the other department was mere hours away from finding the item - and so she picked up her pace. She knew she needed to find an ancient beech tree and that, once there, she would have to find a way to access the object hidden within the tree.

Finding the tree proved easier than she'd expected. As soon as she saw it, she knew deep in her gut that it was the one she sought. The tree seemed more alive than those around it, almost pulsing with a strange energy that drew her toward it. Sliding the strap of her bag over her head, she deposited it and herself on the snowy ground and stared hard at the trunk. There were no cracks or knotholes that she could see, and nothing to reveal signs of magical concealment to the naked eye.

Pulling out her wand, she pointed it at the tree's trunk and said, "Arcanum Revealio."

After a few seconds, an area of the trunk began to let off a faint purple glow. With a triumphant smile, she walked to the trunk and observed the now shimmering bark. As the purple became more translucent, she saw the unmistakable outline of a tennis ball sized object within. Her assignment hadn't told her anything about the object, only that it was dangerous to muggles. Not wanting to take a chance, she tapped her wand to her hand and watched as a thick metallic covering spread over her fingers and palm.

With a steadying breath, she reached her hand into the trunk. Her fingers touched a pulsating stone so hot that she felt its warmth through her protective glove. She grasped hold and pulled, gasping when a large, emerald-like stone appeared at the gap in the bark.

She'd just pulled the stone free when her triumph was marred by the sound of a familiarly frustrated voice behind her.

"Bloody trees all look the bloody same!"

Rose's brain seemed to immediately shut down. Before she had a chance to gather her wits about her, Scorpius stepped into the little clearing. They stood in silence, Scorpius staring at her in dazed disbelief.

"Blimey," he gasped. "Rose?"

"I…Scorpius, what…Hullo."

"Hullo? Sod hullo," he said, moving toward her.

She took a step back, glancing between him and the stone. Following her gaze, he noticed the large emerald in clutched in her hand and his gray eyes narrowed. She held it tighter, turning to shield it protectively and taking another step back.

"I have to take this back to the Ministry," she said fast, hoping he'd just nod his head in agreement and send her on her way.

"So do I," Scorpius said, his tone acerbic. "Alas that you seem to have beaten me to it."

"I'm just doing my job," she whispered.

"And I'm trying to do mine. Do you know how long we've been tracking down that…whatever it is? Ages. Six muggles have disappeared from this forest because of that damn stone. One of them was eight years old. We think it predates Voldemort and we have to destroy it."

"Destroy it? Without knowing what it is or - "

"Who cares what it is! It's dangerous, or were you not listening to the bit about the six muggles? Maybe you don't care?"

Rose pursed her lips, staring at the stone in her hand. It didn't feel dangerous, but then she'd never had her Uncle Harry's sixth sense about dark objects. Still, the department housed many dangerous items. Housed and catalogued and studied them. "I have to take it back," she said, but her voice wobbled and a tiny tremor ran through her as she thought of the eight year old whose last moments were probably spent before this tree.

"No, you don't. Give it to me, Rose," Scorpius ordered, and she heard the start of his temper.

"I can't," she begged, gripping her wand and wondering why she didn't just apparate. "I have to bring it back. It's part of my testing."

"And if I said it was part of mine as well?"

"Is it?" she asked, her mind already working scenarios.

"No," he said bluntly. "But it's important."

"I know it is. That's why - "

"Al told me about what happened with James."

The insecurity she'd felt only moments before hardened into something akin to rage and she glared at him with more venom that she'd ever directed at him before. "And?"

"And the Rose I know would never ignore her family."

"You're a git," she seethed, hating that he knew what she'd done and hating that Al did as well.

"I'm not the one who sat in a pub and pretended my cousins didn't exist," he said archly.

"You'd have done the exact same if you had to for your job. Look at you now, standing here trying to guilt me into giving you something you know I need. The Scorpius I know would never have thrown what happened in my face without giving me a chance to explain."

"I'm not trying to guilt you into anything or throwing anything in your face! I'm expecting you to behave like my Rose and do the right thing," he said, his voice so cold that she shivered.

"You'd have done the same," she said again, and her voice was strong now, and sure. "If it meant protecting your cover or another auror's? Or catching a dark wizard? Sometimes we have to make hard choices in the jobs we've chosen. My best friend knew that and understood it."

"I'd never turn my back on you," he argued fiercely. "Not for anything."

"Don't. Not after the things you just said to me."

"Rose, please - "

"No!" she snapped. "I've been away from everyone I care about for over a year; I haven't even been allowed to write. My whole family, aside from my parents, Al, and Uncle Harry, think I'm off gallivanting around on some silly world tour. And now four of my cousins think I'm…I don't even know what they must think of me. But you told me to do this anyway. Al did, too. You said it was worth it – worth leaving you even. You don't get to hold the ramifications of that decision against me now."

"I know," Scorpius said quietly, visibly deflating. He ran his hands through his hair roughly. "I'm sorry. I just didn't expect to see you, obviously. The last year has been…I've missed you. And I've been angry. So many times I've wished I'd never told you to go."

"Scorpius - "

"No. Take it. Take it and go. At least it will be gone."

"But - "

"I mean it, Rose. Just go." He turned his back to her, leaning his forehead against the tree behind him.

With his eyes closed, she was free to look at him – really look at him – for the first time. He looked so different, older and more haunted than he'd been at Hogwarts. He was, if anything, paler, his eyes too dark and his hair much too long, the ends touching the nape of his neck. And even still he was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen.

As she took him in, a strange sort of anger bubbled up inside of her instead of the sadness she'd expected. The assignment had said a ministry official was looking for the object, but they must have known - Moon must have known - that it would be Scorpius. They'd sent her here knowing what it would do to her. It was the second time they had used people she loved against her, and she wasn't having it. All at once, it was clear what she had to do.

She walked across the clearing, sliding her hand up Scorpius's arm to his shoulder and giving a gentle squeeze. Slowly, he turned to face her, and his expressionless face only strengthened her resolve. Lifting onto her tiptoes, she gently pressed her lips to his. Almost immediately, before he could even return the kiss, she disengaged and reached for his hand. Instead of taking it in hers, she deposited the stone and stepped away, never once looking away from him.

"Happy Christmas, Scorpius."

Scorpius had just opened his mouth to speak when she disapparated, appearing instantly in Moon's office. He looked up at her, one eyebrow raised.

"Miss Weasley?" He looked mildly surprised, but also impressed. It had taken her months of study in the evening to work out how the department bypassed the anti-apparition wards at Hogwarts and even longer to work her way around his.

"I don't have it, if that's what you want to know. You can take this bloody assignment and shove it up your arse. I'm done."

"Rose - "

"I mean it, Moon! I don't want to be a part of this. People's emotions aren't a puzzle. I'm not a toy for the department to wind up. The fact that you would use my family against me and…"

She trailed off, her brow furrowing as what he'd said sank in.

"Did you just call me Rose?"

He smiled at her. "You passed."

"I…what?"

"You passed."

"But how?" she demanded, collapsing into the chair in front of Moon's desk, her knees suddenly seeming to be made of jelly. "I failed in my objective. The stone – and I'm assuming you knew exactly what the object was the whole time you great git - is now in the hands of the sodding ministry official." These last words came out bitter, and she couldn't help sending a resentful glare at Moon.

"The universe isn't as simple as that, as I'd hoped you would realize in your time here. You passed."

"So it was all a game then," she accused, and she was unsure if her heart was pounding in relief or anxiety.

"Yes and no. Every member of this department was faced with your first challenge. It's easier, of course, once you've been accepted and your family can be made aware of your employment. But it's important to be able to gather and process great amounts of detail in times of emotional stress. This is not an easy job, Rose, and sometimes it means ignoring or even offending people we love.

"Tonight's task was testing to see if you look at things in black and white or if you see the gray areas so important to our work here. You knew that by giving Mr. Malfoy the stone it would be taken care of and no longer pose a danger. You took control of the situation. You thought independently when the facts of the assignment proved themselves to be a challenge to your morality. That was your true objective. If we wanted witches and wizards who will do exactly as they are told, we'd let anyone in."

"But the stone - "

"The stone will be returned to the Auror department and promptly handed over to us by your Uncle Harry."

"You're a right prat, Moon," she grumbled. If she were half as clever as everyone was always telling her, she'd have figured out from the beginning that the other department would have to be the aurors and that the stone would end up in her department in the end.

He smiled at her - a real smile this time. "I know it. And I'm sorry that it had to be this way. You're the first new recruit we've taken on in eleven years, and none of the last three before you made it to the end. It's lonely enough work we do here without becoming attached to witches and wizards who maybe won't remember our names in a few months' time."

"It's all done then," she said slowly. "I'm an Unspeakable."

"You are an Unspeakable," he agreed. "If you want to be. You'll need to sign on officially, but you've done it, Rose."

He pulled a piece of parchment out of a folder and slid it across to her. She read through the document which would formally employ her. Still in shock, she reached for Moon's quill and signed her name in vivid green ink.

"What now?" she asked. Her heart was hammering as the magnitude of what she'd just done hit her.

"Now you get to go home."