Albus stared at her from across the table, his green eyes narrowed in suspicion. She refused to back down, meeting his gaze with what she hoped was an innocent look. She kept her hands still in her lap, resisting the urge to fidget and give him even more reason to be suspicious of the intent behind her request. After a while, all she could find herself focusing on was that his hair was getting too long. It hung in his eyes and it was undermining the intensity of the glare he was going for.

Unable to resist anymore, she reached out quickly and tugged on one of the stray locks that was flopped on his forehead. Albus gave an indignant noise and pulled back, batting her hand away, "What are you…?"

Rose grinned at him, "Remind me to cut your hair this weekend. Come up to my common room sometime and I'll take care of it."

He shook his head, "Nah, yours is always too noisy on weekends. Come to mine. That way I'll be able to work on my potions essay."

Rolling her eyes, she huffed out a quiet 'fine,' though she was inclined to agree with him about the noise levels. It was why she normally retreated to the library or whatever quiet nook or cranny she could find beyond its confines to study or focus on homework - usually sharing the space with Albus. There was the occasional study session in the dungeons, as well, but if there was even one other person not studying in the vicinity when her cousin was...well, he sometimes didn't appreciate it.

Today, she'd tracked him down in an empty classroom stressing out about only being a week ahead in transfiguration homework. On a Friday afternoon. She took pride in her academics, but Albus always took it to an entirely other level.

Brushing his hair out of his face, as if just now aware of its length, he resumed his slight glare, "But back to the original topic. Why do you want the cloak and map?"

"I have a project I'm working on," she responded with a shrug, picking at a groove in the wooden table.

Albus raised his eyebrows, "What, trying to meet up with some bloke in the dead of night for a bit of midnight snogging?"

Rose's eyes went wide and she felt her cheeks warm as she screeched, "WHAT?!" Her mind skittered to memories of pale eyes and sunlight before she scrunched her eyes shut to clear them and shook her head. Really, the 'meet up' part was right, but...not the rest.

Her cousin raised his hands in defeat, "Fine, fine! Sorry!" He grinned at her, obviously amused at her discomfort. "Just had to be on the safe side."

She scowled at him, "I'm not James, Albus. I don't plan on causing trouble."

That earned her a lopsided grin, "I figured." He started packing up his things, "I was wrapping this up for the day anyway, so we can swing by the dungeons and I'll grab them for you."

"Thanks, Albus," she beamed at him, amazed it had gone as smoothly as it had.

He nodded absently, organizing his papers, "I do have to ask, though…"

"What?"

Biting his lip, he finally glanced back up at her, "Is it something to do with Grandpa?"

She frowned, dropping her gaze to the table again, resuming her picking at the groove, "Not...not necessarily."

"Rose…"

She shrugged, "I'm just following up with someone to see if they've heard anything." She looked up at him, frowning, "It's just research."

They looked at each other for a long moment before he nodded, "I trust you. If you...need help, let me know."

She smiled at him softly, "Yeah. I will."

Quiet fell again as he resumed packing.

And then the door burst open and two familiar figures tumbled in, shoving at each other and barking with laughter.

Albus glared at them, "You two are so lucky I'm done studying for the evening."

James and Fred stopped and glanced over at him for a moment before the redhead reached out and shoved James for a final time. The eldest Potter caught himself against a desk and laughed, "Al, you gotta lighten up. We were just seeing if you wanted to join us for some chess?" He looked over at Rose, "You, too, Rosie. Two birds, one stone and all that?"

She exchanged a look with Albus before shrugging, "Yeah, why not."

Albus closed his bag and straightened, looking over at her, "I'll go drop these off and grab your research materials." She smiled at him. He looked over at the other two, "I'll meet you guys in your common room?" At their nods, he slipped out of the classroom.

Before the door even had a chance to close again, Fred moved toward her and slung an arm around her shoulders, "Also, since you're here, I had to ask about a rumor I've heard."

Raising her eyebrows, "I'm sure it's all lies and slander."

He grinned brightly, "I'd be highly disappointed to hear that."

Waving a hand she rolled her eyes, "Spit it out - what is circulating already in the first week?"

"A little birdie told me you tried to take a swipe at Rufelda Glass."

"Oh...yeah, that." The girl who'd asked about timing on a funeral.

James moved up with a grin, "Yeah, that."

Rose shrugged, "She asked a question I deemed inappropriate and...I may have lost my temper briefly. Sophie and Emma were able to diffuse the situation."

"By forcibly dragging you from the room," chirped Fred, squeezing her shoulder, "I couldn't be more proud."

James reached out and ruffled her hair, his face softening to something more sincere, "Based on what we heard, she asked a pretty awful question. All things considered, we think she got off lucky."

Her lips twisted to the side for a moment, still feeling the twinge of anger at the memory.

Fred pulled her into a full hug then, "Grandpa will appreciate the intent once he gets back."

She squeezed him back hard, the edges of her eyes stinging at the hopeful phrasing of her cousin's words. Merlin, she hoped so.

"I'm getting in on this," came James's voice, quiet, and they opened their hug to include him. They stayed that way for a minute before breaking apart, ignoring any sniffles or bright eyes that might have remained.

Rose rubbed her cheeks before taking a deep breath, "Whose turn is it for Lily to destroy in chess?"

Fred pushed the door open for them, "I think it's Hugo's."

"He'll be thrilled," she said with a small smile. They walked out together and made their way toward the common room, shoulders and arms brushing occasionally in comfort. The evening passed by contentedly, Lily holding her position as champion of the cousins in chess. When Rose went to bed that night, it was with a refreshed feeling of family and a satchel that contained a cloak and a map.

The next morning she had breakfast with Sophie and Emma and they discussed what they thought the starting roster for the Gryffindor quidditch team would be after tryouts next week. Rose had considered trying out her First Year - she'd always enjoyed a good game and the feeling of flashing through the air after a determined bludger - but in the end she had decided she was more passionate about her academics. It wasn't as if she'd miss any games, though. She had enough family on the Gryffindor team in various positions to practically staff it.

After breakfast, they settled down for a few hours of studying before people started clearing out to go check out the practice fields to scope out the potential teams for the year. Sophie and Emma were waiting in the common room for Rose as she opened the satchel from Albus. There was a chance that Scorpius wouldn't be at the fields and, if so, it would be a perfect opportunity to get him alone. She whispered over the map and, after the initial greetings drifted across the parchment, the familiar scrawling map filled out. She scanned the numerous names, most heading toward or already positioned at the practice fields. In hope, she looked for the outliers that weren't following the crowd.

It took her a few minutes, but then she spotted the name she was looking for, stationary in the library by himself. A small smile lit her face and she folded the map. Trotting out to the common area, she popped her head out to tell her friends to go ahead, feigning an assignment she forgot she had extensive edits to make on before the due date.

Back in the dormitory, Rose grabbed the satchel and waited a few minutes for her friends to be away and ensure they wouldn't be returning as a result of forgetting something. Then, sweeping the cloak over her, she made her way out of the dormitory, ignoring the guilt that festered at her reasoning for even wearing it at all.

A little while later she was stationed in an empty room just down the hall from the library, glancing over the map. Scorpius was alone in his corner of the library. She could just show up and chat with him there, but...there were so many variables in the library. Maybe she should have tried to get a note to him instead of all this unnecessary subterfuge.

She felt ridiculous and dumb and not a little bit awful.

Then, the dot that represented Scorpius started moving. She watched it head toward the library exit closest to her and start down the hall. Toward the room she was in. An impulsive idea seared through her brain and she stood close to the inside of the door, staring down at the dot.

Even as her hand hovered over the doorknob and she watched his name creep closer, her mind was racing. Maybe it would be easier not to speak with him. Maybe it would be better for him. Not to continue being involved.

But it was his choice.

She could just let him walk by.

She really didn't want to not see him.

It would be easy to just do nothing.

Too easy.

The footsteps were passing by the door.

In a flurry of movement, she whipped the door open and her arm darted out to grip the fabric of his uniform and wrench him into the room.

In a horrible moment of miscalculation, she watched in seeming slow-motion as the surprised look crossed his face in the instant before his head cracked against the doorframe and then they were both falling backwards into the room. She tumbled against him, but she pushed up quickly and scrambled toward his head, pulling the cloak down as she reached for the side of his face where a trickle of crimson was starting from his eyebrow.

"Oh, my gosh. Scorpius...I'm so sorry…"

Scorpius groaned, his hand starting for the wound before she batted it away, horror and guilt surging through her at what she had done to his pristine face.

"Oh, Merlin, I'm so sorry. Are you alright? Does it hurt? I'm sorry," was a constant stream dropping out of her mouth as she leaned close to the cut to see how deep it was.

"Y'know...there are easier ways to get a bloke's attention, Rose," he drawled quietly, amusement evident in his tone.

She then realized just how close she was to him, her gaze meeting his. Her eyes dropped for an instant, spotting the smirk that lit his lips before she scrambled away for the door, "I'm getting a towel. I'll be…" she paused, at a loss, "Oh, Merlin…" and then she flipped the cloak back up and sprinted out of the room, heading for the nearest bathroom.

Her mind was racing. This was what she got for trying to be sneaky about meeting with him. First she drags him into her mess and then she drags him into a bloody doorframe. How was this her life? How did this type of thing keep happening in regards to him? She couldn't focus on any of the thoughts as they swept past, just the underlying guilt that was exploding through her, gripping under her ribs as she forced herself to try and remember to breathe. She burst through the door of the bathroom, hoping if anyone was in there they would chalk this up to Peeves, and scooped up all the towels in her immediate vicinity under the cloak before turning and sprinting back.

She scrambled into the empty room with her armful of towels to see him sitting upright now, a hand pressed against the still streaming cut on his eyebrow. He looked up, eyes searching the air, though he still sported the amused smirk from before. "It's easier for us to chat if I can see you, Rose."

Pushing the door closed behind her with her foot, she pulled off the cloak with her free arm, and advanced on him. She slid to a stop beside him on her knees and then registered the amount of hand towels she had grabbed.

To her shock, Scorpius started laughing. At her look, he shrugged, "See this is probably why Skilt likes you. The similarities are endless."

Rose blinked at him, her mind sluggish before remembering the house-elf shoving a pile of linens towards her that first night. Because of the first mess. She frowned, ignoring the stinging of her eyes as she tossed the pile aside but for one and nudged his hand away as she replaced it with the towel, gently wiping away the blood, "Let me see."

The fingertips of her other hand lighted along the edge of his jaw, holding him still though he already seemed frozen. Her heart was pounding so loud as she focused solely on the cut while she dabbed it clean. She certainly wasn't going to be distracted by his closeness or his face or his lips or…

She cleared her throat and pressed the towel gently as she leaned back a bit, "It looks shallow enough, if you want to…"

Scorpius reached up a hand to take over the towel from her, his fingers covering hers for an instant before she dropped them away. It took a moment to register that her other hand was still gracing his jaw. Pulling it back quickly, she felt at a loss as she sat back on her heels.

They gazed at each other and it still felt too close in the room. But she had missed him. Enough to bodily injure him, apparently.

She covered her face with her hands, "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to…"

Her apology was interrupted by his laughter and she peered through her fingers at him, "Why are you finding this so funny?"

He shrugged, "Because it's sort of hilarious." He leaned forward and grinned, "I mean, see it from my point of view. You should have seen your face...because that's all there was to see."

Tilting her head, she took a moment to picture the instants after they fell and...okay. She could see that being a little funny. And ridiculous. And… "I still worry you might have a concussion." She started to reach out for the towel again before checking her movements and clenching her hands in her lap, "Maybe you should go see Madam Pomfrey?"

Shaking his head, Scorpius glanced around, "I'll be fine. It's just a bump." With his free hand, he leaned over and pulled his fallen textbooks and parchment toward him, inspecting them absently before he asked, "So, to what do I owe the pleasure of your ambush?"

She winced.

His gaze snapped to hers, "Sorry. I didn't mean it like…" With a frown, he sighed, "I was trying to be funny, not make you feel bad."

She waved her hands in front of her, "No, you're fine. 'Ambush' is accurate in light of how it turned out." She smiled at him, though she didn't think it succeeded, if the ache of tears building in her throat was any indication.

"Rose...hey, I'm sorry," he shifted toward her, dropping the book he'd kept hold of and reaching out.

Shaking her head, she leaned her torso forward and took a few deep breaths against the warm fabric of his uniform. She could feel the firm weight of his hand across her shoulders, thumb soothing back and forth across her spine.

It was a different sort of comfort than the night before with Fred and James. Different from any comfort she'd received since being back. It seemed to be unique to boys who got caught in storms.

And she hadn't realized how much she'd missed it.

AN:

*waves sheepishly*

I feel only marginally better about the long hiatus by posting one of the longer chapters of the fic.

I'm sorry for the lack of updates. At the end of February I closed on my first house and that was just the first of many life things that pulled me away from working on this fic and posting. I'm still in the throes of home projects, but it randomly popped into my head that I've been completely neglecting this fic and I apologize for that.

It's also a matter of wanting Towels to be the best it can be while also mixing with the fact that there's quite a bit left to go that I don't have written yet. I keep letting myself get overwhelmed by that. So this is me trying to work through the overwhelm by at least putting something out there. I can't guarantee a consistent schedule, though now that summer is wrapping up there's a lot less things pulling my time on the weekends.

This is getting to be longer than the chapter! haha I just want to add that this chapter officially puts V2 of Towels past the chapter count of V1! Woohoo!

Once again, I am sorry for the radio silence. This fic is not abandoned, nor will it be. It just might take a bit longer than I naively anticipated at the start. Thank you to everyone who is still around enjoying it!