Looking back, Rose never knew how she made it through the days that followed. She wandered through them in a daze, oblivious to the stares and gossip that seemed to follow her around the castle like a cloud. With a deliberate effort, she shut out Daisy's loud speculation, Dom's sullenness, and Scorpius' icy presence in her peripheral vision. She took to skipping dinner, preferring to brood in front of the common room fire alone rather than endure the whispers and half glances that accompanied the Great Hall. The ache that had formed within her the morning she spoke to Scorpius' father had grown much larger. Now it felt like a yawning cavern of emptiness.

A week after the incident at the Lake, Dom cornered her. It was late in the evening, after most of the students had gone to bed. Rose was sitting in her favourite armchair by the fire, with a book open on her lap that she wasn't reading. Her cousin sat down opposite and leant towards her with a frown. Rose gathered herself for another argument she desperately didn't want.

"You must think I'm stupid."

Rose blinked. That was not what she had been expecting. She stared at her cousin, who glared defiantly back.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm your best friend. Don't play me for an idiot."

"I don't…"

Dom sighed in frustration. "You're not coming down to dinner. I haven't seen you smile properly in over a week, and when you think no one's watching, you get this depressed, pensive look on your face like you're at a funeral. Albus says you're the same in Potions, so I know it's not just me you're avoiding. Tell me what's wrong."

She honestly hadn't thought she'd been that obvious. She gave Dom an apologetic grimace. "I'm sorry. I've just been…tired."

"Tired?" Dom rolled her eyes. "Yeah right. I've been through enough breakups Rose, I know what this is about."

"I – "

"I know you were sneaking off with a boy earlier this year. When you asked James for his invisibility cloak. Who is it?"

Rose couldn't help gaping at her cousin. It stung her that she had been figured out so easily. More than that, it scared her. If Dom was coming to these conclusions, that meant others were as well. "It's not – "

"Why won't you tell me?" Dom's eyes were shining with hurt. "Why won't you trust me? What could be so bad you won't share it with me? I tell you everything."

She could tell her, realised Rose. All she had to do was open her mouth and say the words: 'It was Scorpius.' Then Dom would know. It was at once desperately tempting and at the same time terrifying. Dom would be angry and shocked and utterly disapproving. Rose wasn't sure she could stand having to listen to all the reasons it was a bad idea – she already had them running on repeat through her mind at every moment. And in the end, she thought, staring into the fire and ignoring Dom's sound of impatience, what was the point in admitting to it? She had ended it with him, and she intended to stick to that decision. Scorpius' dad was right. They weren't meant for each other. The game they had played this year was only that, a game. Her parents would never accept him and his would never accept her. That was just the way things went.

"Right," said Dom tightly after a long silence. "I guess that answers that question."

"I'm sorry," she said miserably, looking down at her hands. "There's no point in telling you. It's over. Finished."

"And that's why you've been moping around all week like somebody died?"

"Pretty much," she admitted. "The stuff with Charlie didn't help either. Everyone thinks I'm somehow in league with – with the Slytherins," she had choked on saying his name at the last second. "And McGonagall told me that if I wanted any chance at all of being made Head Girl next year, I'd better not have any more indiscretions to my name by the end of term."

Dom raised her eyebrows. "Albus says Malfoy has detention every night for a whole month. And that he's been kicked off the Slytherin Quidditch team."

"He's been kicked off the team?" Rose echoed stupidly, gawking at her cousin in disbelief. "How could they do that? There's only one game left to play!" She felt Scorpius' pain as though it were her own. She knew how much Quidditch meant to him.

"Yeah, I know, it's pretty rough. James and Hugo are over the moon about it, though, since their chances of winning just shot through the roof." Dom gave her a crooked smile, and Rose felt a ball of guilt form inside her. She must really have been walking around in a haze if Dom was more informed about the Quidditch than she was.

"Wow." She took a deep breath. "I should really talk to Albus."

"Yeah, you should." Dom gave her a disapproving look. "He's really angry with you. We all are. All this stuff with Charlie, and Malfoy, and none of us knows what's going on. We only want to help."

Rose leaned forward and gave her cousin a hug. "I know," she said. "And I promise that if I need to talk, you'll be the first person I come to. But at the moment I just really think I should try and forget it."

"Alright fine," Dom had her lips pursed but her eyes were friendly again. "I promise not to bug you about it again. Now let me fill you in on all the gossip you've missed out on."

After that Rose made an effort to conceal her emotions. The last thing she wanted to do was arouse more suspicion, and that seemed to be all that her moping was achieving. It was hard, though, to walk around and act like nothing was wrong, like nothing was different.

They didn't have any more Monday lessons from that point on. Rose almost went to the library the first Monday after their fight, just to see whether he was there, but she backed out at the last minute and went away without looking in. She didn't look outside at the oak tree beside the Lake either. Instead she marched straight up to the common room and engaged her little brother in a game of Wizard's Chess.

Potions was her most awkward lesson by some margin. Not only did she have Scorpius sitting in close proximity to her, but she had Albus to deal with as well. As soon as she started paying close enough attention, she realised her cousin was fuming mad with her. He hardly looked up when she sat beside him, and retained a stiff silence throughout the entire class. Where once he had always been one to cheer her up with jokes, now not even seeing her getting accidentally squirted with flobberworm mucus was enough to get him to crack a smile.

What was worse was that, with Scorpius seated right beside him, it was near impossible for Rose to strike up a normal conversation with her cousin. She had got around this in earlier years by simply ignoring Scorpius' existence and pretending he wasn't there, but such a tactic felt cheap and underhanded now. She couldn't ignore him like she used to, not with everything they'd been through. Instead, she opted for tacky and cheerful oblivion.

"Hi Al," she said as brightly as possible one afternoon after they'd taken their seats and were waiting for Professor Cauldrish's instructions. "How are you?"

Albus looked at her and pointedly rolled his eyes, clearly telling her what he thought of her attempt. Rose sighed.

"Okay, I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" he ran a hand through his messy black hair, a stubborn expression on his face. "What for?"

She was hyper-aware of Scorpius sitting on Albus' other side. He had his eyes down and seemed preoccupied with doodling on his parchment, but Rose knew better than to assume he wasn't listening. "Well," she said carefully. "I know I've been kind of…spaced-out lately."

Her cousin snorted. "You could say that."

"And I just – I want to get more involved in your life again."

Next to them, Scorpius coughed. Rose shot him a nasty glare.

"Okay."

Rose waited for Albus to say something else, but he simply went back to arranging his potion ingredients on the bench in front of him. She stared at him in exasperation. That was it? At least it answered the question of whether he was mad at her. There was no way a happy Albus would answer her with nothing but a blunt 'okay.'

"So," she began, fishing around for a casual conversation starter. "How's Quidditch?"

Scorpius knocked his jar of eel eyes onto the floor with a crash. With a scowl, he ducked underneath the table to clean up the mess.

Albus was glowering too. "Oh it's great," he said sarcastically. "Since we have our last must-win match against Hufflepuff in a week, and Scorpius has managed to get himself suspended from the team."

She flushed, her eyes drifting to Scorpius' blonde head beneath the table. "Yeah, I – uh – heard about that."

"Of course you did," Albus drawled. "The whole school's been talking about it. The Slytherins are in mourning and the rest of the school thinks summer's come early."

"I guess…McGonagall thought…all that stuff with Charlie."

"Yeah…" Al trailed off, before turning to her with a determined look that made Rose's stomach squirm. "Maybe you can tell me what happened, since you were there and all. My best friend's being remarkably tight-lipped."

She could tell from his expression that he'd been wanting to ask him for a while. "Uh…"

Scorpius reappeared at that moment, his face like thunder, and slammed his wand loudly on the table. "Al?"

Albus twisted in his seat to look at him. "Yeah?"

"I need to use some of your eel eyes."

"Sure." He half-turned back to Rose.

"And…what's the spell for vanishing things?"

Rose quirked an eyebrow at Scorpius' obvious stalling. There was no way he didn't already know the answer.

"Evanesco."

"Right."

"So anyway," Albus turned back to Rose, his brow furrowed. "What exactly happened?"

"Just a stupid fight."

"About what though? That's what I want to know."

She floundered for an answer, suddenly wishing she had never started this conversation with Albus to begin with. "He…was mouthing off. Talking shit, alright?"

Scorpius stood up abruptly, his chair scraping on the dungeon floor. All eyes turned to him.

"What is it?" asked Professor Cauldrish.

"May I be excused to use the bathroom?" Scorpius deadpanned.

"You've only just come from lunch."

"I'm sorry Professor."

Cauldrish gave him a disapproving look. "Alright, but be quick. I expect you back in class without delay."

"Of course."

Albus stared after his best friend as he stalked from the room. "What happened to him?" he muttered under his breath.

"So anyway," Rose continued in a fake cheerful voice. She knew what had happened to Scorpius – she had just repeated the exact same words he had used when she questioned him about Charlie in the Trophy Room earlier that year. "Do you think you'll be able to beat Hufflepuff without Malfoy?"

That returned the glare to her cousin's face. Rose was almost relieved to see it. "Dunno," he answered dispassionately. "Nott's our reserve Seeker. He's alright but he's not…y'know," he shrugged. "And Hufflepuff's Seeker is one of their strengths. That Howard girl's actually pretty good. Hopefully we can thrash them on the scoreboard so that if she catches the snitch, it doesn't matter."

At the front of the class, Professor Cauldrish waved his wand, and the instructions for Amortentia unfurled themselves on the blackboard. "The instructions are now available," came the Professor's dry, humourless voice, and there was near instant silence. "You may begin."

"Al," Rose placed a hand on her cousin's arm under the guise of adjusting the flame for her cauldron. He looked at her, eyebrows raised. "I'm really sorry if I've been weird lately."

He gave her a wry smile. "S'okay." Then his face turned pensive. "But Rose, I need to ask you something."

"What?" her mouth was suddenly dry.

Albus' green eyes bore into hers with an intensity that scared her. "Are you keeping secrets?"

She could feel her heart begin to hammer nervously. With a concerted effort, she kept her features schooled in blank innocence. "No, of course not. Why would you ask that?"

"It's just – " Al sighed and scruffed his hair once more. "I dunno why but…ah, forget it. It's stupid."

"What?"

"Just my silly imagination," he said evasively. "Anyway, we'd best get busy with this potion. Want to chop roots while I peel slugs?"

It was the first time in months he had offered to share potion duties with her, and she wasn't about to refuse.

Scorpius returned several minutes later, and slid in between Albus and Flora Bletchley without a word. Rose tried to pretend she didn't notice him. Just like she also tried to pay no attention to the conversation he struck up with Flora, or the way she laughed so loudly at a stupid joke he made. Instead, she attempted to shut out the sound of his voice by mindless chatter with Albus, and by repeating the same words over and over in her head: I did the right thing. I did the right thing. I did the right thing.

Rose was so busy trying to avoid Scorpius she completely forgot about her appointment with Professor McGonagall until she bumped into the disapproving Headmistress in the corridor on her way to dinner.

"P – Professor," she stammered, feeling a guilty blush creep over her cheeks.

"Miss Weasley," clipped McGonagall. The old witch's features were tight with disapproval.

"I'm – I'm really sorry about missing your meeting the other, um, week. I've just been so distracted and – and…" she trailed off lamely.

"Perhaps you can spare the time to come with me now? That way you don't run the risk of getting lost again and never arriving."

"I – yes Professor." Rose stared at her shoes, abashed. She could almost feel her dreams of Head Girl slipping through her fingers. Biting her lip, she followed silently behind the Headmistress until they reached her office.

"This will only take a few minutes," began Professor McGonagall when she was seated behind her large mahogany desk. "Please, sit."

Rose perched herself on the end of one of the chairs, feeling acutely uncomfortable.

McGonagall sighed, then pinched the bridge of her nose. "I don't think I need to tell you how disappointed I am."

"No Ma'am."

"Your failure to find common ground with Scorpius Malfoy is most…regrettable."

"You did tell me I didn't have to take those lessons anymore," she felt compelled to point out.

"That's correct," nodded McGonagall. "I said it was no longer necessary. I didn't say it wouldn't still be disappointing."

Rose could think of nothing to say. There was no way she would even contemplate reconciling with Scorpius for lessons again, not even to ensure a Head Girl position next year.

"I must ask you to clarify a few of the circumstances surrounding the incident between yourself, Mr Malfoy and Mr Corner at the Great Lake," continued the Headmistress. Rose felt a sinking feeling in her stomach.

"Of course."

"Firstly, Mr Corner claimed quite adamantly that you were being threatened by Mr Malfoy. Is this correct?"

"What? No." Rose frowned and shook her head. Her buried resentment towards Charlie intensified. "No, he didn't threaten me. They were just fighting."

"About what, precisely?"

Rose swallowed. She knew she couldn't fob the Headmistress off like she'd done to Albus. "Um…"

"About you?"

The woman was far too astute for her age. "Um, not exact – " she caught the Professor's sceptical look and changed tact. "Well, kind of."

"Did Mr Malfoy threaten Mr Corner during the course of their argument?"

Rose wracked her brain to remember what exactly Scorpius had said and whether it could be classified as 'threatening.' "Not really," she said at last. "I mean, he told Charlie to leave me alone, after what happened at Hogsmeade. But I don't think he ever threatened him. And – and Charlie insulted his family," she felt compelled to add. "He called Scorpius inbred."

"I see." McGonagall shuffled a few papers on her desk before giving her a stern look. "And would you describe either of the boys' behaviour toward you as harassment?"

"N-no." Well, Charlie had gotten perilously close, she supposed. But the fact that he had left her entirely alone since then counted in his favour. "No, there were just some…misunderstandings. It's all sorted now. In fact, I was sort of hoping that, well, maybe, um – " she broke off in embarrassment before ploughing on, "that maybe you might reconsider Scorpius' Quidditch ban. It's just that it means so much to him and it really wasn't his fault what happened and – "

"Absolutely not," said McGonagall, with a finality that brooked no argument. "Scorpius must accept the consequences of his actions. Being insulted is no excuse for endangering someone's life. I'm surprised you need reminding of that."

"I'm sorry, Professor," Rose stared at the floor, wondering if it was possible to feel any smaller than she did at that moment.

"Strange," piped up one of the portraits on the wall behind the Headmistress' desk. Rose recognised it as the one that had spoken last time she'd been there. "That you're sticking up for a boy you apparently can't stand. Very strange."

"Thank you for your input, Phineas," said McGonagall drily. "Well Miss Weasley, I suppose that is all for now. I take it you have no intention of recommencing lessons with Scorpius?"

Rose shook her head, not trusting herself to speak.

"Very well. Off to dinner with you now Rose. And do try and stay out of trouble."

"Yes Ma'am."

But she didn't go to the Great Hall, having thoroughly lost her appetite. Instead, she wandered aimlessly through the corridors, scuffing her feet and replaying the events of the last six months over and over in her head, trying to work out where exactly she had gone wrong. Meeting Scorpius at the top of the Astronomy Tower at midnight seemed a good starting point, but she couldn't find it in herself to regret that particular decision. Talking to Charlie had definitely been a bad idea, but how was she to have known Hogsmeade would be such a disaster? At the time it seemed harmless.

Eventually, Rose decided to head to the library and try to study, anything to distract herself from her tormenting thoughts. She turned left and began to head in that direction, but had barely made it down one corridor when the sound of a familiar voice drifting towards her stopped her dead. She paused and listened. Scorpius' smooth, monotone drawl was unmistakeable. It was followed shortly by a distinctly feminine laugh.

Rose stayed where she was, just around the corner from where the voices where coming from, torn between curiosity and a desire to turn and run in the opposite direction. She strained to listen to what they were saying, but they were too muffled for her to hear clearly. The girl sure was doing a lot of laughing, though.

When she heard a door open, her curiosity won out and she couldn't resist peeking around the corner to see who was with him. Being careful to avoid being seen, she edged sideways just enough to see the backs of two people walking in the other direction down the corridor. Scorpius, tall and blonde, and beside him the equally blonde head of Flora Bletchley – Rose recognised the high, swishing ponytail and the green ribbon tied in her hair. As she watched, Scorpius laughed and threw his arm around Flora's shoulders.

Rose practically fell back around the corner and out of sight, her gut twisting in a curious mixture of horrific irony and a sickening sense of self-derision. He's sure moved on quickly, she thought savagely, not sure whether she wanted to laugh or cry. Perhaps both at the same time? Laughing, because of her own stupidity in believing that what she had felt was in any way properly reciprocated; and crying, because she had thought, she had really thought…

She choked back a sob, disgusted at herself. This was nothing more than vindication that she had made the right choice, that was all. Rubbing a hand furiously across her eyes, Rose turned and hurried down a staircase in the opposite direction, all thoughts of the library forgotten.