DISCLAIMER: No, Harry Potter still doesn't belong to me. It's still all Queen Rowling's, although this plotline and some of the characters are mine. And the quote from The Fault in Our Stars that I use, is, needless to say, not mine either.

So, over the next couple of chapters I thought I'd go back to some of the other characters who I haven't mentioned for a while. Namely: Alex and Emily, Roxanne, James and Nathan and decide how Molly is feeling about the latter two. Although we will see Scorpius and Rose. Ob-viously. Enjoy!

Alex was checking the leader board for the Inter-House Challenge, which was up in the Slytherin Common Room.

"No way!" He exclaimed excitedly, turning to Scorpius. "We're first! My team! We won that last task!"

"Well, good for you." Replied Scorpius dryly, sauntering over to the board to see where he had placed. His team were about half way down the board. The bottom quarter had been disqualified, but no-one he knew that well was in the zone of shame. It was made up of the weaker teams, the ones who didn't get along; who didn't have four brain cells between them; who had never wanted to take part in the tournament in the first place. He supposed that they had been too close to getting disqualified too many times to get a decent score. Still he wasn't happy with half way. That would take their previous win down quite a few pegs.

"Never mind, Scorpius. Better luck next time." Alex smirked, patting his friend on the back as they headed up to their dorm.

"Oh, shut up." Scorpius rolled his eyes, half heartedly. "At least we haven't had to be rescued yet."

"But I've got a girlfriend out of it." Alex took great pleasure in rubbing this in.

Scorpius had no response to this, so just rolled his eyes and flopped onto his bed. Flint was one of the few people he was willing to be un-cool in front of. He wouldn't have 'flopped' in front of anyone else: he would have stayed stood up, intimidating whoever was in his company. But it was Alex, so flopping was ok.

"Speaking of girlfriends-" Alex continued.

"We weren't."

Alex ignored him. "-how is it going with you and Weasley?"

Scorpius groaned and sat up. "It's not. I've long since come to the conclusion that we cannot be." He thought this sounded a bit dramatic, so continued as though he had intended to make a joke out of it. "Like Romeo and Juliet: we are two ships to pass in the night."

"Very poetic, and fairly accurate, actually. But Romeo and Juliet found a way around their warring families." Alex pointed out, as he sat on the edge of his bed.

"Which resulted in them both dead."

"That's not the point. You need to show Rose that you don't care that your families might not accept you immediately."

"Might not? My Dad will probably throw me out!"

"I seriously doubt that. You're being over dramatic as usual."

"As usual?"

"Will you stop parroting me? Yes, you're over reacting. Your father will be pissed at first, but your mother dotes on you, so she'll be fine. And once she is, so will your dad."

"Hmph."

"Is that even a word?"

"It is now." Scorpius lay flat on his bed again, staring at the green curtains with silver trim around him.

There was silence for a moment, before Alex spoke.

"You never actually said how it was going with Rose."

"That's because I've started ignoring her."

"And what's that going to do?" Alex sounded almost annoyed.

"My theory is that if I distance myself from her then my feelings for her will disappear."

"Well, that's bullshit. Tell me honestly that you've stopped thinking about her know you're trying this new tactic."

The blonde sat up and opened his mouth to speak, but found that he couldn't lie to his best friend. "It's not fair, Alex," He exclaimed childishly. "I can't stop thinking about her! Every time I see her I get these pathetic butterflies in my stomach- and it's more than just a teenage crush. Don't tell me I'm too young to know how I feel; you seem sure enough about Emily! But it's worse for me, Alex, because at least Emily feels the same way about you! Rose hates my guts-"

"Well, I wouldn't go that far."

Scorpius felt a tiny spark of hope. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you were too busy sashay-ing off after your argument with Potter to notice that she defended you once he turned on her."

"Seriously?"

"Yep. She said something about you being smart, and that they wouldn't have been able to complete the task without you."

"What else?"

"Oh, I know you want to know, but the world isn't a wish-granting factory, Scorpius!"

"What?"

"Nothing." Alex mumbled. "Just something from a book I read. Anyway, go and ask her yourself! Oh, wait, you can't because you're supposed to be ignoring her."

"Ha ha. Well, I don't think I am anymore, since we were working together during the second task and getting on well."

"You were getting on because you needed to, in order to finish."

"No... There was a moment when we were face to face. This close." He demonstrated with his hands "And it wasn't me who moved towards her, either."

"Was this the moment who had your claustrophobic attack, by any chance, and she was trying to calm you down?"

"Erm... Maybe..."

"See, Scor, you aren't going to get anywhere if you don't go and talk to her! Tell her how you feel! That's what I did with Emily, and it went extremely well..." Alex went off into a daydream; a proud smile etched upon his face.

"Well, somehow I don't think it would work the same for me. Last time you talked me into that, she already had a date!"

"Ok, well, just befriend her at first. Stop with the stupid 'I'm ignoring you' thing, because you're still going to see her in Potions and during the Challenge, so she'll just hate you if you blank her. Try to be nice to her, compliment her, but not so much that you become creepy, and she'll notice that you're not a bad looking chap, and she'll start seeing you in a new light."

"I don't know, Alex. The second I flirt with Rose I'll either get assaulted by her cousins or by Rose herself."

"Man up, Scorpius!" Alex exclaimed in frustration as he left to his feet, his head narrowly missing one of the wooden beams that supported the four poster bed. "Do you want her or not?"

"Yeah, but-"

"But nothing! You have to at least try! Now, if you want a perfect example of the perfect relationship, you can stalk me."

"What?"

"I'm meeting Emily." Alex explained slowly.

"Ok. Have fun!" Scorpius' tone was full of suggestion, to which Alex just rolled his eyes.

Alex was already waiting underneath the tree where he had arranged to meet his girlfriend when she turned up.

"Well, hello there!" Emily called jokingly as she approached. She was dressed in dark blue jeans and a cream jumper, her wavy hazelnut hair up in a messy bun with her sapphire eyes sparkling in the autumn sunshine. Since she had started dating Alex, her confidence had definitely been boosted. She was still cute and unaware of how pretty she was, but slightly more outgoing.

"Hello to you too." Alex responded, smiling, before planting a kiss on her forehead. "How's it going?" He asked, as they began to walk.

"Slightly better than it was during that task. Did you know we won?"

"It may have reached my notice." Alex grinned. "Anyway, I think we deserved it."

"Well, I didn't do much, but you and the others were fantastic! I mean, did you see Al with that plant? And Louis with those knives and blades!" She noticed Alex giving her a side glance. "You're not getting jealous are you?" She grinned cheekily. "You know I think they're nothing compared to you."

"Well, that had better be true." He laughed. "Because I feel the same."

"What- that they're nothing compared to me? I should certainly hope so!" Emily exclaimed jokingly, whilst Alex laughed.

"Oh look, it's the love birds!" Someone called from behind the pair. Alex spun to see Sophie Bennet and her cronies approaching them; smug expressions upon their faces.

"Seriously, Sophie? Have you nothing better to be doing?" Alex sighed. Sophie didn't scare him - he just found her irritating, so he took Emily's arm again and turned to walk off. However, Sophie called him back.

"No so fast!"

"What is it?" He was losing patience.

"I think we need to have a word about your little friend here." Sophie gestured to Emily as if she was something the dog dragged in. Alex saw this treatment of his girlfriend and his temper rose.

"If you're referring to Emily, then there's nothing to be said. She's my girlfriend and we're going for a peaceful walk. Or we were, until you interrupted us. So, if you don't mind-"

"Oh, but I do. You see, Emily here isn't a Slytherin."

"Really? I hadn't noticed! Do you have something to say, or are you just pointing out the obvious?"

"I don't think you understand. Miss Collins couldn't have been a Slytherin even if she was less wimpy, because she's a mudbl-"

A flurry of movement. In a split second Alex's wand was at Sophie's throat; her friends had theirs pointing at Alex; Emily was back to back with her boyfriend, her wand directed at the Slytherin girls who were forming a circle around the three in the middle.

"Now, now." Sophie muttered, clearly flustered. She knew that there were more of her friends than there were of Emily and Alex, and that her side would win if a fight broke out, but she would be the first one injured. And her Slytherin sense of self-preservation didn't want that to happen.

"Now what, Sophie?" Alex asked her, speaking through clenched teeth. Her comment about his girlfriend had clearly rattled him, she thought with grim satisfaction. "Are we going to have to fight, or are you going to take that comment back?"

"Which comment, Alex?" Sophie responded, feigning innocence.

"Good choice." He lowered his wand from the girl's throat, as did Emily from behind him. They turned to leave the circle, only to realise that they had been tricked. The girls didn't move aside. Instead they grinned maliciously.

"Expelliarmus!" Sophie cried, hitting Emily from behind. The Hufflepuff's wand flew back to Sophie, who caught it triumphantly. "Lesson number 1: Never trust a Slytherin. You've been spending too must time with this Hufflepuff, who is trusting to the point of stupidity. And that was just plain stupid, Alex."

"Emily is not stupid." Alex growled, sending a Jelly-Legs Jinx, which hit Sophie straight in the stomach. "And neither am I!" The other girls looked at each other, unsure of what to do when Alex turned on them, until Sophie yelled:

"Get them, you idiots!" Unfortunately, she was still standing and still holding Emily's wand, and although incapable of swift movement, her friends weren't.

One of the others flung a curse at Alex, and he was thrown a few feet backwards by it, leaving Emily temporarily alone and wandless. He stood up almost immediately, and ran back, but not before the others had surrounded Emily, leaving Alex on the outside of the circle.

"Emily!" He exclaimed. "Look out!"

Alex needn't have worried. Whilst he was fumbling for his wand, Emily had ducked underneath the first curse, before spinning and punching the girl who cast it in the stomach. The Slytherin staggered backwards, more with shock than the force of the blow, whilst another girl aimed a jinx at the Hufflepuff's back. But the punch gave Emily the time she needed to drop to the floor and roll with almost unnatural speed so that when she hit another Slytherin's legs, the girl fell over with a cry of shock. The remaining Slytherin girl began flinging curses at Emily haphazardly, with a second girl getting up from the floor, but the third out of action from being winded by Emily's blow to the stomach. Emily was ducking and weaving to avoid being hexed as best as she could, but Alex could see she was tiring and Sophie was sliding her way over.

He sprinted back to his girlfriend, throwing himself in front of the oncoming curse, which was unfortunately 'Impedimenta' and Alex was therefore out of action. Emily snatched up his wand as he fell, but it was four to one, so, even if one of the four had jelly for legs, the odds weren't exactly in her favour.

"This is what comes of trying to worm your way into a purebloods bed, you filthy Muggle." Sophie spat, as she raised her wand. She saw the possibility of attacking the Slytherins and running for it cross Sophie's eyes, but it was almost dismissed as she knew she was outnumbered. Still, better to go down fighting. Emily thought, as she screamed 'Tarantellegra!' and hit the curse hit one of the girls. No sooner had they all turned on her, than a couple more curses flew inches away from two of the Slytherins. When Emily spun round to see who they had come from she saw a red headed girl who she recognised as Rose Weasley sprinting over, alongside with Alex's best friend: Scorpius Malfoy.

She had no time to wonder what they were doing here or why they were helping her, because almost instantaneously she was under attack from the Slytherin's who had been momentarily distracted by the arrival of unexpected jinxes. But between Rose, Scorpius and herself, they soon had the four Slytherin girls in various unconscious states of boils and tentacles, and were Rennervating Alex. Emily plucked her wand from Sophie's hand, and reunited Alex with his.

Once the dark-haired Slytherin was fully awake, and Rose had double checked him and Emily for any serious injuries, the first words out of Alex's mouth were:

"Oh my goodness, Em, I'm so, so sorry!" He pulled his girlfriend into a hug, kissing the top of her head, inhaling the familiar scent of his hair as he did so.

"Hey, don't worry, Alex! It wasn't your fault. Anyway, I was managing well enough." Emily grinned slightly at the end- a gentle reminder of her epic Muggle fighting.

"Yeah- How the hell did you learn how to do that?" Alex asked in surprise, stepping away in an almost fervent admiration. "It was awesome!"

She laughed lightly. "My older brother is a self-defence teacher and I didn't have much else to do over the summer."

"Wow. It was... I... Would you teach me sometime?"

Emily opened her mouth to assure Alex that she would, when Scorpius Malfoy decided to make an input. "I'm sure you and your girlfriend will have great fun wrestling..." He grinned suggestively, patting Alex on the back, who scowled and pushed him away.

"Shut up," Alex muttered, searching for a comeback. Then he struck gold. "Anyway, you haven't told us what you and Rose Weasley were doing together."

Scorpius looked from Rose (who stared at the ground) then back to Alex. "And I'm not going to."

So, ignoring Alex's protests, Scorpius left his best friend and Emily to it, sauntering off with a spring in his step that wasn't there earlier. Rose then nodded politely to the Slytherin and the Hufflepuff, before walking away; chin up and proud.

Alex and Emily looked at the girls who were lying on the ground. "We should probably get help." Emily suggested.

"Erm..."

"Come on, we'll just get a professor to help them- say we found them like this."

"They'll know. And we'll be in deep shit."

Before Alex could say anything else to stop her, Emily had run over to Professor Weasley, made a believable excuse about the Slytherin girls, and returned to Alex, who was staring at her open-mouthed. "What?" She laughed at his expression. "She loves me, so she doesn't want to punish us. Obviously, she didn't say that, though."

He smiled. "You, Miss Collins, are fantastic!" Alex exclaimed, swirling Emily around.

Once he had stopped, and she had started to catch her breath, she panted. "Well, I do have my upsides."

Alex had been dying to kiss Emily properly ever since he saw her at the beginning of this feeble excuse for a date, and when she began karate-chopping the Slytherin bitches... Well, that was undeniably hot. But now the ideal moment had come. He could kiss her at last.

So he did.

So, thanks for reading! And thank you for the lovely reviews I received on the last chapter- they were the kindest so far; I couldn't stop smiling! Feel free to review again, especially if you have something you'd like me to include in an 'in between the tasks' chapter, or PM me with them

Thanks again!
Lucy x