They were both lying on the hood of the car watching the clouds drift overhead, dappling them with sunshine and shade. Rose was finding it hard to ignore the line of warmth where her arm was flush with Scorpius's. Such a silly thing to be getting distracted by after everything she'd unloaded into the open air around them. After she had been wrapped in his arms, crying into his shoulder.

Merlin, her mind was fried.

She had already reestablished the line in the sand last night. Then there was the conversation she and Scorpius had the other day about him saving his charms. The chat had been had. She just had to get her frazzled mind on board. There was a line.

'Until we're back in school…'

"...what then?"

Rose blinked, taking a moment to muddle through what parts had been her brain rebelling and what had been spoken in Scorpius's voice. She looked over at him, "Uh...what?"

An amused look flitted across his face, "When we get back to Hogwarts. Is there a plan for our side of investigating if your grandfather isn't found by then?"

She frowned and propped herself up on one elbow. "Scorpius, you don't have to be involved after we get to school. My mum sai-"

"I know what she said." His gaze was steady.

Looking down at him, her frown deepened, "Look, I made the mistake of not thinking about the consequences for you when I first got here and I have no intention of roping you into more of this after we get back to school. It's not fair to you."

Scorpius pushed up to sitting, rubbing his face as he leaned back against his other hand on the hood. He finally turned to her with a grin, hand dropping into his lap, "Rose. We've been over this. I'm fine with it."

"But-"

He shook his head, "No. If something were to happen or you got involved in something because of this situation and I thought there had been anything I could have done to prevent it, it would be just as bad, if not worse, than whatever repercussions would be dealt if I'm taking an active part."

"Scorpius," she tried again, "You don't need to-"

"It's my choice to make, Rose."

They looked at each other in silence.

Her mind raced, wrapped up in the guilt that was creeping up her spine, but...he was right. This was his choice. Her mother had put an expiration date on her expectations of him if he wanted it that way. And if he chose to be involved, Rose had to honor it, as much as it gnawed at her as a reminder of her earlier self-absorption.

For all that she was concerned at continuing to put him at risk, there was no small part of her that was relieved that she would have his help.

"So," he broke the silence gently, "is there a plan or are we just going to play it by ear?"

She plopped back down onto her back, watching the clouds again as she focused on his question. A sigh escaped her, "Mostly playing it by ear at this point. Mum said she would let me know if anything develops on their end...though I have my laptop for when we get back to school."

She caught his questioning look, "Oh. Right. A laptop is a computer…" Blank expression. "Hm. It's…" she huffed in frustration before waving her hands vaguely in the air above her, "Just take my word for it that it'll be helpful in keeping tabs on any reports from the muggle side of things. I get signal in the north tower so I'll try to catch up on the news every few nights to make sure no eccentric redheads are asking strange questions about all things muggle."

Scorpius gave her an amused look. She shrugged, "Beyond that it's just waiting to see if we can pull anything out of the adults that we could try to look into." With a sigh, she closed her eyes for a moment, "Maybe she'll send a letter along with Hugo when we get to King's Cross." She scrunched her face and looked back at him, "I'm not holding my breath, though."

He nodded before sliding off the hood and stretching. There was a glimpse of pale skin as his sweater slid up and she busied herself with slipping off the car, as well. As he lowered his arms, he reached out and laid his arm across her shoulders, steering her toward the front of the Manor with a small, melting smile, "Well, we'll get something figured out. All this talk of investigating is making me think of research, which makes me think of studying and it's reminding me that we hadn't finished debating the various uses of knotgrass."

Rose lifted her eyebrows at him, "Oh? I thought we were quite finished because you were getting pretty outlandish."

He laughed, "Sounds like you just don't have any evidence to keep arguing with."

She narrowed her eyes at him, "Rude and incorrect."

Another laugh, and he dropped his arm away from her shoulders to push the door open and lead the way into the foyer. As the door closed and they turned to head toward the den, Scorpius glanced at her, "Also...did I correctly interpret that you're planning on showing up to King's Cross with a Malfoy?"

Rose shrugged, "I suppose you did." She caught the amused smirk he shot her way and scowled at him, "You love the demise of my reputation, don't you?"

Scorpius just shrugged before turning away from her to gather his books.

It hadn't occurred to her that she had been planning it that way ever since chatting with her mother about taking the car to King's Cross. It had seemed obvious that Scorpius would be riding with her. In reality, he'd get there faster by magical means, but…

Rose picked up her book and sat down in her chair, glancing over at Scorpius.

But maybe she just wanted to hold onto this for as long as she was strong enough to.

The days that followed were spent browsing the Prophet, packing Scorpius's belongings, and studying. She had explained to Scorpius that they would be taking the car to King's Cross and he had been much too excited about that revelation. She was sure she was also going to regret introducing him to computers whenever she got around to it after they got back to school. She probably wouldn't be able to have a conversation with him for weeks if he ever got his hands on one of his own. He'd be too engrossed.

More and more she found herself wondering how much she would actually see him once they got back to Hogwarts. It bothered her that she was scared of losing this easy comfort they'd established in such a short time. It bothered her that school could change what they had. No one except her Mum knew where she had been, but once she arrived at King's Cross with Scorpius...everyone would.

She wasn't sure if she was relieved or concerned about that. And the fact that it wasn't an easy answer terrified her. What did it say about her?

As the days of her oasis started coming to an end, the darkness that she had gotten a handle on started seeping through the cracks again, but now the reasons for it had grown more complicated.

Two days before they were set to leave, Smit showed up with the parcel from her mother. She opened it in the kitchen while grabbing a snack. It was her school robes, cleaned and pressed. They smelled like home. Wrapped carefully in the middle of the package was her prefect badge, shined and polished and glowing in the warm light of the kitchen.

Her appetite disappeared and the cracks grew and she knew she shouldn't sit in it like this, but...the thoughts wound around her skull. They reminded her of everything she'd done wrong. Everything she'd taken for granted. Did she...maybe they would take away that badge if anyone knew the mess she had created. Maybe they would be right to.

She sat and stared at the lovingly presented items for half an hour in silence, vaguely aware of Skilt peering in at some point in the interim. Then Scorpius arrived and she could practically feel the concern, but she couldn't look at him. He moved up next to her, looking at the contents of the package. He glanced over at her and gently squeezed her shoulder.

It made her feel even more guilty. Why wasn't Scorpius a prefect?

Why had that question never crossed her mind before?

He pulled her out of her spiralling thoughts with an off the wall comment about transfiguration that her rational brain couldn't allow. They spent the rest of the night arguing about it, though she was more than aware that his argument was only fabricated with the intention of distracting her from the glittering badge and home-scented robes left forgotten on the counter.

Then came the day of leaving.

Skilt helped them get their trunks and items packed into the car, though he made a point of scrunching his nose in distaste every time he had to get near it. Rose was becoming fairly confident he was only doing it for show. Fairly.

When they had everything ready, Skilt tutted over Scorpius's outfit choice, smoothing out unseen wrinkles and brushing at lint that wasn't there. When Scorpius reached down and hugged the house-elf, Skilt's eyes drifted closed for a moment as he hugged back. Rose busied herself with mentally running through her checklist for the fourteenth time, looking away.

Then she felt a small tug at the hem of her shirt and she looked down to see Skilt gesturing her down toward him with his arms open.

Oh.

His thin arms were firm around her shoulders and he patted her back, "Skilt asks that the young master and miss take care." She squeezed him back and nodded. The idea that the house-elf had become such a source of comfort after their rocky start was a surprise. It was hard to imagine not seeing him and Scorpius taunt each other every morning. She closed her eyes and savored the moment, trying to memorize the feeling.

When he released her, Skilt nodded and started shooing them into the car, "The young master and miss will be late if they keep dawdling like this." He paused and levelled a very serious finger-point at both of them, "No getting into more trouble than the young master and miss can handle."

Scorpius laughed, "I wouldn't give you the satisfaction of being able to admonish us for something so horrendous, Skilt."

The house-elf narrowed his eyes, but Rose saw the grin as he turned away, making his way to the front steps. They waved at him as they started down the drive and he watched until they were out of sight. Rose wished he could come with them.

"I love Hogwarts, but I hate leaving," Scorpius said quietly from the passenger seat. Rose glanced over at him and nodded in agreement.

They rode in silence for a while before Scorpius shook off his thoughts and started distracting both himself and Rose with questions on the operation of her grandfather's car. The first 'I don't know' she answered with was terrifying in the silliest way. Scorpius had simply nodded and moved on and she found herself admitting quite often just how little she knew about the vehicle. The relief at Scorpius's casual acceptance of it with no sign of teasing was novel.

The conversation wound through multiple topics as they travelled. Preparation for their classes, speculating on what house would have the strongest quidditch team this year, and stressing over the N.E.W.T.s even when they had almost two years to study. She was thrilled to talk with someone other than Albus that felt the same sense of urgency about their final exams. She was a little worried that it made them more than a bit neurotic, though.

She and Scorpius even lightly toyed with the idea of studying together, but nothing was set in stone. They were in the middle of the final limbo before reality and they were both conscious not to make promises they weren't sure were able to be kept. The mental acrobatics she had to do to avoid thinking about it were impressive.

And then the drive was over and all of that ended.

AN: Sorry for the delay on this! RL came in and distracted me from updating. :/

Anywho...guys...we've officially left the Manor behind (for now)! I miss Skilt so much already...*sigh*

Hope you all enjoy the latest installment and see you in (a little less than) two weeks! :)