Coming back to Hogwarts for the sixth-years meant the sad realisation that the next six months were going to be spent by and large with their noses in books, as the teachers had proven themselves to be as unrelenting as ever in their assignment of homework. By the end of the first week back from the Christmas break Rose had essays for every single subject, as well as spell practise for both Charms and Transfiguration, and reams of Arithmancy calculations to complete. She had thought the workload couldn't possibly increase from the year before, when she had gone cross-eyed from studying for her OWLs, but it seemed that she had been mistaken. By the time the first Saturday of term rolled round, Rose was thankful just to be able to roll out of bed and not be given any more homework.

Dom was slumped grumpily over a bowl of porridge when Rose entered the Great Hall a little later for breakfast. Her cousin had been moody since getting back from holidays, and the onslaught of assignments had not improved her mood.

"I hate my life," she announced gloomily when Rose sat down across from her. Dom raised her spoon and examined her reflection critically in the back of it. "Think I could make it as a model if I dropped out of school?"

"Dunno," said Rose.

"Yeah, I suppose not," Dom's scowl got even deeper. "I'm too ugly."

Rose rolled her eyes and bit into a slice of toast to avoid answering.

"You know," said Dom idly, "Uncle Fred and Uncle George left school early." She frowned at the cuticles on her fingernails. "And they made heaps of money."

"In seventh-year," said Rose, "and that was only because they had their business set up already. Do you have a business ready to go?"

Dom pouted. "I could go to London," she persisted. "Calvin's there, making broomsticks for his dad…maybe we could live together…" her face fell even further, confirming Rose's suspicions that the two of them had argued over the holidays.

"So…" she said, knowing her cousin would not drop her bad mood until someone asked her what was wrong. "How is Calvin?"

Dom took a dramatic, shuddering breath. "Oh…you know…" she waved a hand and tears appeared in her clear blue eyes. "Busy…as usual…" she sniffed. "Too busy for me, of course…Got to work, you see. Doesn't have time for me anymore."

It took every ounce of self-control Rose possessed not to roll her eyes at her part-Veela cousin. "Well," she said diplomatically. "He probably is busy."

"That doesn't mean our relationship has to suffer," said Dom sulkily. She leant across the table and lowered her voice to a whisper, even though they were already out of ear-shot of anybody else. "I think he's getting bored with me."

"Nonsense," said Rose calmly. She had had this conversation with Dom at least half a dozen times before. "How could he be bored with you? You're the most beautiful witch in Hogwarts. There's no way he'd want anyone else."

Dom blinked at her. "Really?" she smiled tremulously. "You think so?"

"Absolutely," said Rose, taking another huge bite of toast.

Dom opened her mouth to speak then shut it quickly, her eyes sparkling. "Guess who's coming over?" she squeaked.

Rose's heart gave an unexpected thump and she swallowed painfully. Her eyes darted involuntarily to the Slytherin table and locked on to a pair of grey ones – Scorpius was staring straight at her.

"Charlie Corner," hissed Dom, and Rose's insides gave another, less pleasant, lurch of surprise. She twisted in her seat just in time to see Charlie come to a stop in front of her. There was a wide smile spread across his handsome features.

"Hey Rose, Merry Christmas," he sat down next to her, his legs bouncing as if he couldn't keep them still. "Did you have a good break?"

"Yes thanks," said Rose politely, trying to ignore Dom's smirking across from her. "How about you?"

"Yeah, it was alright," Charlie said. "Just did the family thing. Anyway listen, you know it's the Ravenclaw – Slytherin game coming up next weekend?" he paused for dramatic effect, but Rose just blinked and shook her head. She paid very little attention to Quidditch in general, and even less when it didn't involve Gryffindor.

Charlie looked a little put out by her lack of interest, but quickly recovered and laughed instead. "Yeah, well, it's next Saturday. And Ravenclaw and Slytherin are both top of the ladder at the moment so…" he trailed off at Rose's glower. She really didn't need reminding that Gryffindor had lost to Slytherin earlier in the year, pretty much guaranteeing them second place in the Cup. James had locked himself in the shower for hours afterwards, and still couldn't talk about it without suffering face spasms.

"Hmph," was all Rose said.

"Uh…" Charlie looked nervous now. "Yeah, and, um…well, I'm probably going to play."

"I didn't think you were on the team," she said harshly. Dom kicked her hard under the table.

Charlie blushed. "Yeah, I'm not, but, umm…actually, don't worry about it." He made to stand up, but Rose put a hand on his arm.

"No, don't go," she said, feeling ashamed of her behaviour. She was acting like a childish sook. "I'm sorry, I just hate that we lost to Slytherin. Please, what were you going to say?"

Charlie hesitated, then sat back down, looking slightly mollified. "Well, our normal Seeker got caught trying to smuggle Firewhiskey into Hogwarts after Christmas. He's been given a one-match ban and I was the reserve, so," he smiled at her, "I was wondering if you'd come and watch me play on Saturday."

"Of course," she said quickly, wanting to make amends for her rudeness earlier. Watching a Quidditch game was no big deal, anyway. Most likely there would be a whole group of Gryffindors going down to watch, her cousins James and Fred included; she would just tag along with them.

"Awesome," Charlie beamed at her. Then, before she could react, he leant towards her and pressed his lips to her cheek for a quick kiss. She immediately felt her face begin to burn. "See you in class," he said, standing up and walking away.

"Aww Rose, he is such a cutie," said Dom happily once he was out of ear-shot. Her cousin had instantly brightened at the prospect of drama. "I'll make you look so beautiful on Saturday that he won't be able to pay any attention to what he's doing, he'll be too busy looking at you!"

Rose smiled weakly, but the rush of excitement she had been expecting didn't come. She raised her eyes and saw, to her surprise, that the spot where Scorpius had been sitting was empty.

They were practising nonverbal conjuring spells in Transfiguration. Since the start of the year they had progressed from small, simple objects like matches and needles, to more complex items such as birds and lizards. Today they were assigned the task of conjuring puppies, though Professor Millew assured them all rather drily that she didn't expect anyone to succeed for at least another week.

Rose had her eyes scrunched in concentration and her tongue between her teeth, but so far all she had managed to conjure was a long, wagging tail. It wriggled on the desk in front of her like some kind of strange, disfigured worm. Next to her, Dom was waving her wand with ever increasing irritation.

"I swear I heard yapping!" she yelled suddenly, looking slightly wild. "Did you hear that Rose? Did you?"

"Er…"

"Oh never mind," sighed Dom, putting her wand down dejectedly. "It was probably only my brain cells exploding."

Rose snorted and flicked her wand again. This time she managed a tail and what looked like half a back leg. "Ugh," she muttered, vanishing the offensive limb while Dom laughed.

"Now now," said Professor Millew, swooping down on them and giving Dom a reproachful look. "There's no need to laugh, Miss Weasley. Miss…Weasley is doing a very fine job."

"Sorry ma'am," said Dom humbly, bowing her head and elbowing Rose in the side instead.

"That's quite alright. Rose, a word after class if you please," said the Professor, before sweeping past them. Rose blanched and shot a quick glance at Dom, who looked as surprised as she felt. A word never tended to indicate anything she would look forward to.

As was often the case when dreading something, time seemed to spin forward at a dizzying rate, and before Rose felt like she had even blinked the lesson was over and Dom was whispering "I'll wait for you outside" into her ear. Rose swallowed and made a show of packing up her books to delay the moment when she would have to face her Professor. Eventually, when she could stall no longer, she dragged herself forwards to the front of the class.

"You wanted to speak with me, Professor?"

Professor Millew's expression gave nothing away. "Please take a seat," she said calmly. Rose did as she was told, her sense of foreboding increasing.

"Miss Weasley," said Professor Millew, now sitting as well and lacing her fingers together on the table. "It has come to my attention that you and Mr Malfoy have not been participating in the Prefect lessons you were assigned."

Rose bit her lip and stared at the floor. She ought to have known it would be about this.

"Is this true?" asked Professor Millew.

Rose nodded stiffly.

"Very well," said her teacher with a heavy voice. "I'm sure you know how disappointed I am. I truly thought the two of you could overcome your differences. This is certainly not the behaviour I expected of a Gryffindor Prefect."

"Please, Professor," Rose looked up imploringly. "We'll start them right away, I promise. It's – it's my fault we haven't been going, and I'm sorry. We'll meet every Monday night from now until the end of term."

Professor Millew's eyebrows rose sharply as she surveyed Rose from across her desk. "I'm afraid it is out of my hands," she said at last. "It is up to the Headmistress now as to how you shall proceed. However," she added at Rose's stricken look. "I would recommend recommencing the lessons as soon as possible, in order to prove to Professor McGonagall and myself that you have committed to the assignment. That would be the best course of action for the time being, I believe."

Rose nodded, her brain feeling numb.

"Very well then Miss Weasley," said Professor Millew, as unsmiling and grave as ever. "Do try your best, won't you? I'm sure the Headmistress will be in touch with both you and Mr Malfoy shortly. Off you go then, off you go…" She waved her hand and Rose jumped up and scurried out of the classroom.

She explained what had happened to her cousin as they made their way to the Great Hall for lunch. Dom clucked her tongue angrily at suitable intervals before tossing her head.

"It's ridiculously unfair," she said as they entered the Great Hall, already filled with chattering students enjoying their lunch. "I mean, McGonagall should have known this would happen, pairing you with Malfoy. He's alright with Albus but he's a total prat to everybody else."

Rose squirmed uncomfortably. Six months ago she would have heartily agreed with Dom and joined in her criticism, but now she couldn't help feeling that her cousin's assessment of Scorpius was a little unfair.

"…And every time he looks at me he has this arrogant, condescending look on his face, as if he thinks he's so much better than me," Dom prattled on, oblivious to Rose's lack of enthusiasm. "Like, I mean, come on! His dad was a Death Eater; my dad's got scars from being attacked by him and his cronies. And I'm the one getting looked down on?"

"Mmm," said Rose half-heartedly. She glanced across at the Slytherin table, but Scorpius wasn't there. Her eyes picked out Al, talking animatedly to Hector Nott, occasionally running a hand through his messy black hair. Her cousin was a good guy, Rose thought slowly. Yet he was in Slytherin. Her father had always said that only the worst kinds of students got sorted into Slytherin, and that they had produced the most dark wizards of any House at Hogwarts. But that wasn't always true, was it?

"So when did Millew say you have to start lessons again?" asked Dom, jerking her out of her thoughts.

"Umm, today I guess," said Rose. "It is Monday, after all." Her stomach gave a small lurch. "I'll have to find Scorpius and tell him."

"Well you have Potions after lunch don't you?" said Dom, who had only received an A for Potions in her OWLs and therefore given it up. "You'll be able to talk to him there."

"Are you guys talking about Scorpius Malfoy?" interrupted their fellow Gryffindor sixth-year, Daisy Hopkins, who had clearly been listening in on their conversation. She leant towards them over the table, her blonde pigtails dangling and her eyes alight with gossip. "I heard he got into a fight and that's why he's not at lunch."

"A fight?" repeated Rose blankly. Her eyes swivelled back to the Slytherin table, where there was still no sign of Scorpius. "With whom?"

Daisy shook her head. "Don't know. But apparently it was in Charms, and you know the Slytherins take that class with the Ravenclaws, and I don't think Malfoy would fight someone in his own House, so…I think it was someone from Ravenclaw." Her eyes sparkled at the scandal.

Rose's eyes flicked to the Ravenclaw table and ran along the faces there, trying to see if someone was missing. Her heart sank when she reached the end of the line, and she turned back to Dom. "You don't think it was Charlie?" she said in a low voice so Daisy wouldn't overhear.

Dom's eyes widened and she too scanned the Ravenclaw table. "He's not there, is he?" she whispered excitedly. "But why would Malfoy fight with Charlie? They don't even know each other."

"Yeah…" said Rose, frowning in thought. "I dunno."

By the time lunch had finished and Rose had made her way to the dungeons for her Potions lesson, she was determined to simply sit next to Scorpius and force him to tell her what he was playing at. However, Scorpius was not there, and Professor Cauldrish, their bushy-eyebrowed Potions Master, began class as though unaware of his absence. When Scorpius did walk in, over ten minutes later, he went straight to the back of the class and sat down next to Albus, muttering an apology and refusing to meet anyone's gaze. At the sound of the bell, he jumped up and left the room so quickly Rose had not even moved from her seat before he was gone.

Harmony lessons after school did not appear a likely prospect.

Rose didn't normally have Prefect patrols on Monday night. But the Gryffindor fifth-year whose night it was had come running up to her as soon as lessons finished for the day, with tears in her eyes, and begged to be allowed to have the night off, claiming several unfinished essays and a bad head cold. Rose had half a mind to refuse, sure that she had just as much homework to complete, but the girl had seemed so frantic and desperate that she couldn't bring herself to say no. And so here she was, standing beside the portrait of Merwyn the Malicious on the third floor corridor, stifling a yawn and wishing time would speed up. She and Simoly Howard, the other Prefect on patrol that night, had decided to split floors in the interests of time. Though it wasn't technically allowed, Rose doubted anyone would ever be any the wiser, and she could have an extra half an hour to do her homework before bed.

At that moment she had her ear pressed against Merwyn's frame, while the old wizard glared malevolently at her, in order to listen to the secret passageway his portrait guarded. It was not unknown for students to hide themselves in these concealed shortcuts, thinking that they would be safe from discovery there. But tonight there was nothing but silence.

Rose had just lifted her head away from the painting when there was a loud clatter in a room up ahead, followed by an equally loud curse that made Merwyn cackle appreciatively. Rose peered up the corridor in surprise, but nobody appeared.

"Might be a monster, little girly," growled the painting. "Better be careful."

Rose ignored him and walked on towards the room from where the noise had come. The door was wide open, and there was a deal of commotion coming from inside. Thinking it might be Peeves, Rose drew her wand, braced herself to be sprayed with some ungodly substance, and walked in.

It was the Trophy Room. Rose recognised it instantly upon seeing the many glimmering gold surfaces lining the walls, cups of all shapes and sizes celebrating the various achievements of Hogwarts students. In the far corner of the room, a boy with platinum blonde hair was kneeling amid a pile of trophies, a bucket full of soapy water beside him. His shirt sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and a dripping sponge was clenched in his fist as he glared down at the cup in his other hand.

"Hi," she said softly, and his head jerked up abruptly. The cup he was holding slipped out of his hand and landed with a crash onto the floor. "Sorry," she said, feeling her face heat up. "I didn't mean to – "

"What do you want?" he asked harshly, getting to his feet and dropping the sponge back into the bucket.

"I just – heard a noise and – what are you – "

"I'm on detention," said Scorpius flatly. He stared at her for a minute. "You?"

"Prefect patrol," she said quickly.

"Right," said Scorpius. He gestured to the paraphernalia at his feet, his upper lip curling with distaste. "Filch's got me cleaning trophies without magic."

"Filch?" Rose spun around, half expecting to see the unpleasant face of Arduous Filch leering at her, but the room was quite empty besides themselves. "Where is he?"

Scorpius shrugged. "Off prowling with his cat, most likely. He'll probably be back soon though. You should go," he looked away from her.

Taking a deep breath, Rose took two steps forward into the room, closing the door behind her so that their voices didn't carry into the corridor. "Actually I – I wanted to talk to you, if…if that's okay?"

Scorpius stiffened, but didn't say anything.

"Professor Millew spoke to me today about…our lessons," oh bother, she was blushing. "She said we have to start having them or we're going to get in trouble."

"Yeah…whatever," he said coolly.

"So we should meet next Monday, in the library, like before?" she persisted.

He shrugged, still not meeting her gaze. "Sure."

"Why are you in detention?" Rose asked and then, before she could stop herself, "Did you fight with Charlie Corner?"

Scorpius' head snapped up at her words, and he narrowed his eyes at her. "How did you – who told you that?"

"Oh, it was pretty obvious," she said casually, trying to sound as if it was nothing. He didn't look convinced. "So did you?"

"None of your business," snapped Scorpius, and he grabbed the soapy sponge and gave it a vicious squeeze. His anger was as good as an admission.

"Why did you do it?" she said, taking another few steps into the room.

"None of your business," Scorpius repeated furiously, picking up a trophy and scrubbing it as though his life depended on its cleanliness.

"Scorpius – "

"He was mouthing off," he spat abruptly. "Talking shit, alright?"

Rose titled her head in disbelief. "I can hardly imagine Charlie mouthing off," she said calmly. "It's not in his character."

There was a clatter; Scorpius had dropped his trophy again. He stared at her, his grey eyes flashing with resentment. Rose's heart skipped a little and she bit her lip. "Yes," said Scorpius bitterly, his jaw very tight. "You would know all about Corner's character, wouldn't you?"

"And what's that supposed to mean?" she said heatedly, anger flaring within her. She strode right up to him, kicking aside a cup as she did so. "What is your problem?"

Scorpius looked so angry that for a moment Rose thought he might curse her. He threw aside the sponge – it landed with a splat on the ground – then reached out and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her to him until she crashed into his chest. "This is my problem," he growled, and then he was kissing her, his lips crushing hers, hard and demanding.

Rose whimpered, unprepared for the jolt of pleasure that ran through her at his touch. She was responding before she could stop herself, arching against him and wrapping her arms around his neck. Scorpius groaned, and shifted so that he was holding her properly. Keeping one hand on her waist, he entangled his other hand in her hair, cupping her head and pulling her closer into him. She moaned when he deepened the kiss, her whole body vibrating with the sensations flooding her.

They stumbled backwards, Scorpius' back hitting the shelves forcefully and sending several of the smaller trophies crashing to the floor. He didn't seem to notice, but continued to kiss her hungrily, his arms squeezing her against him. Rose's knees grew weak and she grabbed a desperate hold of his shoulders to stop herself from falling. She had never imagined that kissing could feel so good, so powerful…she moaned again and pressed into his chest, forgetting about everything except the feeling of him against her.

There was a soft meow behind them, echoing in the silence. Rose jumped in fright, breaking the kiss, and spun around, her heart hammering so hard it was almost painful. Filch's cat Norleen was silhouetted in the small gap between the door and wall that had been left when Rose had entered, her large amber eyes glowing in the dim light cast by the torches. She gave another accusatory meow before turning and slipping back into the corridor.

Rose took a deep, steadying breath, holding on to the edge of a shelf for support. She had no idea what had just happened. One minute they had been yelling at each other, and then…oh Merlin…her heart was still racing and her brain felt foggy and disorientated. Where had that come from? She couldn't even –

"She'll have gone to get Filch," said Scorpius thickly, his voice as unsteady as she felt. "You should get out of here before he comes."

Rose nodded. Yes, she should leave. She took a shaky step towards the door, unable to look at Scorpius. Then another, and another, until she was leaning against the doorframe, breathing heavily as though she had run a marathon.

"Rose," she looked back when he said her name. Scorpius was still standing against the wall, surrounded by the trophies that had fallen from the shelves, his face flushed and his hair dishevelled. Even from a distance she could see how red his lips were, and she blushed, thinking of what they had just done.

Scorpius had opened his mouth but now closed it again, seemingly changing his mind on whatever he had been about to say. "Go," he said at last, and Rose nodded. She turned and hurried off down the corridor, trying to convince herself that she wasn't completely insane.