The more-or-less-breakup was easier than Scorpius would have expected. He had talked to Lily and told her how he felt. Not that he thought he was in love with Rose. Or might have been. He still spent Christmas Eve at the Potters' house to see Al and James before the Potters and Weasleys came to his house in the morning. Scorpius was so glad his baby-sister had a huge first Christmas. She deserved it because she was awesome. Also, he loved seeing Rose interact with the toddler. He was glad that Hugo was really into photography and therefore took a lot of photos of Rose and Cassiopeia and Rose and Scorpius. The blonde boy made sure to later on get some pictures for his bedroom and his wallet. He also desperately needed them for the time he'd be out of school and Rose would be off to experience the world.

The rest of the school year went by uneventfully. That was until shortly before the Ball. But by then, Scorpius was certain that he wasn't in love with Rose. He had no romantic feelings towards her whatsoever.

Scorpius woke up, a bit confused. "What the...?"

"Shush, Cupcake. It's me."

"Scorpius! Throw out your stupid girlfriend!" groaned one of his friends, "it's freaking 3 in the morning!" Others joined him in complaining. They wanted to sleep, for Merlin's sake! They had their final Astronomy exam coming up the next day and Scorpius could understand why they were so angry. "How the hell did she even come in here? This is our freaking house, not hers!"

"Scorp told me the password. I'm sorry, guys."

"Shit, Weasley, are you crying?" Finally someone turned on the lights, only to see a very devastated Rose standing next to Scorpius' bed, clutching her pillow very tightly. "God, Weasley! You come into our house in the middle of the night and you cry? Scorpius, just promise us to make it quick or to use a freaking Muffliato Charm."

"I promise." Scorpius softly dragged Rose into his bed and casted the charm around them so the others could go back to sleep. After the lights had turned off, he hugged Rose and kissed her forehead. "What happened, Pumpkin Pie?"

"Hakim broke up", she sobbed, "and I have no idea, why. He just did it. He just broke up with me! No reason, nothing."

"Oh Rosie, I am so sorry..." He hugged her tighter and stroked her back. "You will be fine. He and will have to give you an answer. He has to. And if I make him. I really do not care. I need him to give you an answer. He owes you, okay?"

"That is what Al said", Rose sniffed and buried her head on his chest, "that's even what Hugo said! And he is way too young to be awake at that time in the night. I need to tell him tomorrow."

"No need to worry about that, I will talk to your brother about that. You tell me what exactly happened, okay? And how you told Al and Hugo about it, understand?"

She nodded and for a while just sobbed into his shirt, trying to calm herself down. "You see, I was with Hakim tonight. We had a great evening, chatting and laughing and yes, we were sleeping with each other. It was getting very late but I didn't care because I don't have an exam tomorrow and he doesn't have an exam so with just had fun and lived and had butterbeers and sex and I was so in love. You know? I was so happy to be with him, it felt so save..."

"I know what you mean, Rosie, I know. What happened next?"

"We cuddled for a while and got dressed to head back to the Castle. We were in the Shack, because Al wanted to use the Room of Requirement to study and I suppose Hugo was helping him because he is a genius in Astronomy and Albus not that much. So Hugo helped him study and..."

"Rose, what did Hakim do after you got dressed?"

"He told me..." Her voice broke down and she started to cry again. "He told me that he can't be with me anymore and that he has to break up with me, that he doesn't wanna be with me anymore... I got so mad at him, Scorp. So so mad..."

"Did you hurt him, Rose?"

"Imightvebrokenhisnose", she mumbled under tears.

"You did what? Rose, the hell?! You broke his nose? What where you... alright, okay." Scorpius took a deep breath to calm him down. "Okay. It is okay. He hurt you, you hurt him. Revenge. I can accept that. What did you do then?"

"I went. I ran away, through the whole bloody castle! And I met Al and my baby brother and I was so mad and I told them and I don't know... I don't know. Hugo stormed out and Al followed and they left me. Scorp, why does everyone I love leave me? Why did they leave?" Rose pressed firmer against her best friend's body, crying silent tears into his shirt.

"I would bet my – and pardon me for that word – my arse that they were going after him. To hurt him like he hurt you. They are your family and they want nothing but to protect the ones they love. We all love you very much, Rosie. No-one is ever going to leave you. We all might be separated at some point in time but family always sticks together. I will always be there for you. So will Lily and Al and the Scamander Twins and Lucy and James and Ted and Vicky and Hugo and Cassiopeia and Roxy and Fred and everyone else. Okay?"

Rose sniffed a bit but nodded. "Okay. That's a fair deal."

"I know it is. We should take a walk. So you can relax and calm down a bit. Let's go outside, come on." Scorpius got up without making much noise, handing Rose his green sweater because in the middle of the night it was actually a bit cold outside.

Through a secret passway, the pair of them went outside. Rose inhaled the fresh and chilly air deeply, trying to forget what had happened before.

"So, Scorp. You know what it means, don't you?"

"What what means?"

"Me being single. It means our deal is on. Ten days until the ball and I think neither of us has any intentions in getting into a relationship now. Do we really wanna stick to the plan? Aren't you scared it's gonna ruin our friendship?"

"I am awfully scared, Pumpkin Pie. And I am not sure if I want to do it. I think we should keep it in the back of our heads and see what the evening will bring. If we do it because of our pact it can only go wrong. Maybe it just happens. Who are we to tell?"

Rose smiled softly at him and took his hand in hers, intertwining their fingers. "Okay. Sounds like a plan." She was glad about it. The red-head was far too heartbroken to just sleep with a random guy or even her best friend.. She wasn't meant for fixing herself with sex. And she was very unsure about what the sex might do to their friendship. Especially in sight of graduation, going away, growing up. It might complicate everything. Rose was also not sure if she was even attracted to Scopius.

"Would you rather walk a while or sit down?" Scorpius wanted to know after a few minutes of silently walking through the clear night.

"Sit in the grass, please. You look really tired, Cupcake. And I am not in the mood for talking anyways, but the air is nice. Why don't you just make yourself comfortable and I join you?"

"Are you sure?" Scorpius looked at her, questioningly, but after a small nod, he found a place to rest.

While her best friend lay down in the grass fairly near to Hagrid's hut and closed his eyes, Rose took a good look at him. His hair was gorgeous. Very shiny and bright. Of course it was. He was part-Veela. It had to be amazing. Those couldn't help but notice his nice body. Quidditch realms had done him good. His shoulders were wide, he had a six pack - not too toned -, his arms looked better than arms were allowed to look. She adored his jawline. Very elegant and manly, yet so soft. Rose wanted to place soft kisses along it. Hang on. What did she just think? No. She did not want to kiss Scorpius. He was her best friend and she shouldn't look at him like that. She mustn't. After reassuring herself that it was wrong to stare at the attractive Slytherin, she lay down next to him into the grass.

"Why can't it always be easy like this?"

"Because life is not easy, Rosie. Life is hard and complicated and so much fun if you share it with the right people. Tell me, what does your dress for the Ball look like? You have not told me. And I would love to have you as my date, as we are both single now. What do you say? Are you going to be my Graduation Ball date, Rose Weasley?"

"Why, I would love to, Scorpius Malfoy." She placed a soft peck on his cheek. "And I'm still not gonna tell you how it looks like. It's a surprise! But I'm sure you'll love it. I actually bought it with you in mind rather than my ex-boyfriend. I don't know. I know that's not so great, like a betrayal. But hey, he dumped me. I can buy dresses without thinking about him. That's perfectly fine."

Scorpius chuckled and drew her closer. "Yes, it is perfectly fine."