Just a note to everyone before you start reading this story. I want to tell you that I've written this in British English, so things will be spelt differently than they are in America. Words like gray, mom, color... Ect, are spelt like grey, mum colour. Just wanted to let you all know that any words spelt differently are just the way the British spell them.

Note 2: This is a revised version of the original I posted before. Mostly to fix spelling and grammar mistakes but a few other things have changed as well.

A BIG thanks to SunriseImagination for being my Beta for this story.

Chapter 1

November 18th

Monday

~oOo~

Rose Weasley closed her Charms book and set her quill down with a sigh, grateful it was finally over. She rubbed her tired eyes, trying to stay awake just long enough to pack up her things, then head off to bed and get the sleep she longed for. She leaned back in her chair, stretching and covering her mouth with her hand as she yawned. Rose trained her eyes down and blinked blearily at the old silver watch that was strapped to her wrist.

It was nearly midnight.

Once again she had stayed up far longer then she should have. Last night it had been two before she had slumped into her bed, tonight was early in comparison.

Standing on unsteady legs Rose slowly started to roll up her newly finished Charms essay, mentally cursing herself again for forgetting that the essay was due in the morning.

She never forgot to do homework but this essay had completely slipped her mind. If Ashley, one of her dormmate, hadn't mentioned it at the last moment Rose would have walked into Charms without it.

With everything going on these days, maybe it wasn't a surprise that she had forgotten her homework. She had been too ambitious this year, thinking she could do more than the years before just because she was older.

The harder classes of sixth year were almost enough to keep her going constantly, but she had just had to throw in everything else: Prefect duties, Quidditch, tutoring younger students, volunteering to help the professors, working with Hagrid. They were all draining her of any energy she had left after a day of classes. And then she was still keeping an eye on her cousin Albus and his idiot friends.

Rose knew that soon she wouldn't be able to keep up with everything. She had been going almost constantly for a little over two months now. She was exhausted. But she had never been one to back down from a challenge. She was determined to try and balance everything out, but the strain of always doing something was getting to her.

"Dammit," Rose muttered angerly as she dropped a few quills on the floor, quills which promptly rolled under her table.

Grumbling she got down on her hands and knees and crawled under the table after her quills. She had just grabbed the last one that had rolled under the far chair when she heard voices and the soft sound of feet on the stairs.

Rose froze and after a second hesitation peaked out from under the red tablecloth. The voices grew slightly louder along with the sound of footsteps. Rose soon figured out that they were coming from the boys' staircase.

Her eyes narrowed and she let out a frustrated breath as two boys stepped into the common room, the dying light of the fire illuminating their faces.

Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy stood there, both grinning like they'd won the Quidditch World Cup, and both dressed in matching black cloaks and boots. Rose felt like hexing her cousin and his moron friend. Judging by their clothes and what Rose knew about them as people they hadn't come down to the common room to sit around the fire roasting marshmallows while talking about the good old days.

No. They were obviously up to something.

"Good, no one's awake," Albus said quietly glancing around the common room.

"Of course, no ones awake." Malfoy scoffed, rolling his eyes at his friend. "It's almost midnight on a school night, every good rule-abiding boy and girl are up in their dorms sleeping. Which is why we're doing this now." Malfoy smirk seemed particularly mischievous in the firelight. Rose had to resist hexing that smirk off his face.

"Yeah, but I thought maybe Rose would be down here. She's been up late working the past few days." Al and Scorpius started to walk across the common room toward the portrait hole.

But then Malfoy suddenly stopped, making Al look at him. "What?"

A chuckle emanated from Malfoy as he bent and picked up an old tattered book from the side table next to the dying fire. It was thick, with multiple pieces of paper sticking out at odd angles from under the dark blue cover.

Rose gritted her teeth in frustration. She recognized the book. It was her school planner, the one she had been writing in since first year. Her mother had given it to her before she left for Hogwarts for the first time.

Hermione had had it custom made for Rose and it was fine-tuned to her needs. Its pages would magically multiply when there was a need for more space. Currently, every page inside was covered in her neat elegant handwriting, detailing what was due when and what she had to do that day and about a week after. She had left it on the side table that evening after looking through it and adding a few reminders to its many pages, forgetting to grab it when she went to study.

Albus came to stand next to Malfoy as the blond turned the book about in his hands, looking at both sides before flipping it open to the first page, where, Rose knew, he would find her name embossed in gold lettering.

"Hey, that's Rose's organizer," Albus said, staring at his cousin's name on the page.

Malfoy let out a short laugh as he looked at the book and it's erratic pages sticking out everywhere, "I think your cousin might need a different plan of organization."

Albus frowned, "Why? She's been using that thing for years. Plus she hands in every assignment so it must be helping something."

"Yeah, except she left it down here. In the common room. Where anyone could find and take it. Not very organized if you ask me."

Rose glared at what little she could see of him from under the table. Hoping maybe his sleeve would catch fire so he'd get his hands off her book!

But violence wasn't needed in the end because just then Al reached out and took the book from Malfoy and gently put it back down on the table.

"Rose is just stressed Scor. She's got a lot on her plate. Cut her a bit of slack."

Malfoy raised his hands in surrender, "You don't gotta lecture me, Al, I know full well Weasley's got a lot to do. I'm just saying she might want to cut back, she's always studying, always rushing about. I don't think I've seen her just doing nothing since last year. She's going to burn herself out if she doesn't slow down. Maybe you should talk to her, try and get her to drop something?"

Al sighed, running a hand through his messy hair. "Yeah except you know how Rose is. The only person that can get her to slow down is her." He then shrugged his left shoulder and rubbed the side of his neck. "We should get going, the teachers will start patrolling soon and we still have to walk there."

Rose didn't hear what Malfoy said next because they had both turned and walked the last few steps across the common room, climbed out of the portrait hole, and were gently closing it behind them by the time Albus finished talking.

Rose scrambled out from under the table just as the door closed. Grabbing her cloak that was hanging over the back of her chair she sprinted to the portrait hole, throwing the heavy garment on over her school robes as she went. She glanced at her planner as she passed but decided she would just grab it when she got back.

Very quietly, Rose climbed through the portrait hole and pushed opened the Fat Lady's painting gently. Peaking around the frame, she could just make out the retreating forms of Albus and Malfoy in the dark. She hopped out into the hall and was instantly grateful for her cloak as the freezing air of the castle surrounded her.

Rose closed the portrait hole door behind her and was relieved to see that the Fat Lady was still sleeping in her frame, humming as she dreamed. Hugging her cloak tightly around her, Rose took off after the boys.

The halls were cold like always, the freezing November air seemed to just pour in from the cracks and gaps in the stone, making every corridor just as cold as it was outside the walls. Rose stayed in the shadows, making sure to keep out of sight and never venturing into the light the lit torches provided. She followed the two Gryffindors from a distance, ducking into alcoves or classrooms when either one of them looked over their shoulder or around them.

They didn't meet anyone as they walked through corridors and downstairs. Not that Rose found this strange, all the prefects were in their dorms sleeping at this hour, patrols having ended at elven like normal and none of the teachers would be on duty yet.

After walking down six staircases and too many halls to count, the boys came to a stop in front of the large stained-glass window close to the Great Hall. From where she stood hidden behind a statue, Rose could just make out the doors leading into the Great Hall along with the hourglasses that held the glowing house points.

Both teens looked up at the large stained window and Rose did the same. She had always loved that window. It was quite beautiful with two large white unicorns rearing on their hind legs, their heads bowed slightly and their horns just touching at the tips. Their manes flowed majestically down their necks with golden strands of hair mixed in with the glowing white ones. And there in the middle, between their bodies was the symbol of peace in the Wizarding World. Wings enveloping a wand.

Rose picked up on what the boys were doing before they even got started. She felt her cheeks flushed with anger at the thought. They were planning on transfiguring that beautiful window, she could feel it in her bones, like a sixth sense. While Rose had no doubt that what they wanted to change it into would be very funny, she wasn't about to let them ruin such a wonderful stained-glass window just for their own entertainment.

Albus was raising his wand, saying something to Malfoy as he did so, both of them grinning like the idiots they were, when-

"Albus Severus Potter. You get away from that window this minute!" Rose demanded quite loudly as she stepped out of the shadows, her brilliantly blue eyes sparkling with anger as she glared at them, her wand held in her one hand the other on her hip.

Albus and Malfoy both jumped when Rose spoke, and she knew they hadn't known she had followed them. Al whipped around to confront whoever had spoken and took a step back when he caught sight of Rose. He knew that when her eyes sparked with anger like that, he was in trouble.

"Rosie!" He greeted cheerfully grinning nervously at Rose as he hid his wand behind his back.

Rose's eyes narrowed.

"Don't you 'Rosie' me Albus Potter. I know what you two were doing," Rose said as she walked towards the two boys. Malfoy and Albus shared a look then turned back to Rose.

"Whatever do you mean Weasley?" Malfoy asked his voice as calm and collected as ever. "We were just taking a stroll around the castle." While Malfoy faked looking innocent and slightly confused, doing a good job at it too, Albus looked like a scared cat. He had never been very good at masking his emotions. Not very useful when he tried to lie his way out of detentions.

"Don't play games Malfoy, one look at Albus' face tells me you were up to something and I have a good guess as to what that was." Rose and Malfoy glared at each other for a minute before he huffed and said, "Fine," Knowing they were caught.

"Twenty points from Gryffindor for being out past curfew. You're lucky you didn't touch that window or it'd be another twenty. Each." Rose said.

"Come on Rose, twenty points?" Al moaned as he watched the red rubies fly out of the Gryffindor hourglass. This made them only five points ahead of Slytherin, but still in the lead.

"You should be glad it isn't more," Rose snapped. "If I were a teacher you'd both get detentions. You should be glad that it's me and not the Headmistress. I hear she's not very happy with you two."

The boys glared at her.

Albus and Malfoy had been given detention so many times over the years that Rose had lost count. They were both constantly causing trouble, it seemed like not a day went by without them blowing up something or pranking the other students and sometimes even the teachers.

They were not alone in their trouble-making though, something the teachers despaired over. At the start of their first year at Hogwarts, both Malfoy and Albus had joined The Gremlins.

The Gremlins were a sort of gang at Hogwarts, only a select few were in the group and it was considered a great honour to be counted as one of them. The group had been started by Ted Lupin back when he was at Hogwarts, and when he left it had just continued on. So even though he had been gone from Hogwarts for six years, the group still existed, continuing on his legacy of trouble making.

It had ten members, most of whom were either a Weasley or a Potter but there were others. Over the years Rose had stopped many of their smaller pranks, much to their annoyance. It had become second nature to sniff out their plans. Because of this, Rose was used to sneaking out past hours after them. But, unlike them, she was allowed to be out past hours being a Prefect.

"I suggest you both get back to the common room right now before the Headmistress does catch you outside after hours."

"Yes, ma'am," Malfoy said sarcastically, earning him a piercing glare from Rose.

Together the three started to walk back to the Gryffindor common room, Rose walking slightly behind the two boys. All the way there Al was grumbling under his breath about how Rose was overreacting and how she wasn't any fun and how she had ruined their surprise.

She just ignored him.

After a few moments of walking in silence, Rose glanced down at her watch again and saw that there were only about ten minutes until midnight.

"Wonderful," Rose said in a low voice. "It's almost midnight and instead of being asleep right now I'm out here keeping you two skrewts from ruining school property."

Malfoy turned to face Rose suddenly, something she hadn't anticipated and to avoid colliding with his chest she tumbled back into a wall. The blonde moved forward a step, efficiently blocking Rose in. If she wanted out, she would need to get by him. That, or break through a stone wall behind her. Neither option sounded appealing.

He tilted his head towards her and said in a low voice, "Love, no one asked you to come out here and follow us, you did that all on your own, so kindly don't start complaining about losing your beauty sleep."

Malfoy had many things he called Rose. His favourites were love and Weasley, but there was also sweetheart and other variations on the same theme. And each and every one of them made Rose want to hex him. She could feel her temper rising, the blood warming her cheeks. It would only take a second to pull her wand from her back pocket and her hand twitched at the temptation.

But her annoyance soon dissipated just as quickly as it had come, and her cheeks warmed some more. The clouds outside had finally passed, and the light of the moon suddenly fell through the window illuminating Malfoy's face. Rose was struck by how the silvery light made his already pale skin even lighter. His features were somehow softer, his white blonde hair silken and wild, and his eyes were like a storm sparkling brightly with flecks of blue and grey.

He was gorgeous.

Then he smirked, as though he knew just what Rose was thinking and the spell was broken. She set her jaw, annoyed at her hormonal teenage body for even taking the slightest notice of Malfoy's attractiveness.

So what if his smile could melt even the coldest heart? So what if his eyes were completely mesmerizing? So what if he was tall and fit and completely sexy in every way? He was an arse and that made him completely unsexy in Rose's eyes. Nope his strong lean body so close to her did nothing to her.

Absolutely nothing.

"You two were going to ruin that window. In doing so you broke multiple school rules and you have some nerve to lecture me!" Rose was proud that her voice came out normal and not a high squeak at him being to so close.

"Sweetheart, what Al and I do is none of your bloody business." All thoughts of how handsome Malfoy was evaporated from Rose's mind and all that was left was a need to slap the smirk off his stupid face.

"It is my bloody business Malfoy. As his cousin, I will not see him expelled for something so stupid. You are both walking on such extremely thin ice right not it's not even funny. And" Rose crossed her arms and glared more fiercely at the boy in front of her. "If it isn't any of my business what you and Al get up too, then how is what I do any of yours?"

Malfoy threw up his hands in exasperation, she always brought this up. Always. Really she took any chance to throw it in their faces, to point out the injustice. Rose was talking about the fact that she had never once had a real boyfriend.

This was not due to anything Rose did. No, this was all because of her male family and their friends. Over the years many boys had asked Rose out. However, each and every one of them had somehow mysteriously ended up in the hospital wing not too long after the fact.

It didn't take a genius to figure out what was happening and Rose's suspicions were only confirmed when she had come upon them threatening a boy over asking her to Hogsmeade.

Rose's male cousins were all very protective of her and any other female relative. Once, Al had tackled a guy for checking out his sister, Lily, bloody tackled him like he was a rugby all-star.

It wasn't normal. No one went to the extremes that they did. And she couldn't for the life of her figure out why they did it.

All Rose knew was that every guy that had even talked to her in a flirty way pretty much never talked to her again out of fear for their lives. Every time this happened, Rose's cousins would walk around looking far too pleased with themselves for a day or two.

What Rose hated, even more than just the fact that they were doing it, was that Malfoy was always there with them. Looking ready to murder any guy that so much looked at Rose, it annoyed her that he interfered in her personal life when he had no right to.

She couldn't bloody talk to a guy without putting him in danger!

It wasn't as if Rose or her other female cousins went around tackling every girl that batted her lashes at the boys. All of Rose's male cousins could do whatever they wanted while Rose, Lily, Roxanne, and Lucy were all supposed to be good girls and stay far away from the opposite gender.

"That's different," Malfoy said it like it was obvious.

"How on earth is that different?" Rose wanted to yell but seeing as they were in the middle of a corridor, out far past curfew, which really wasn't the best place to have this conversation, she went for the next best thing. A hushed voice that made sure her fury came through clearly.

"What we do is protecting you, and what your doing is just irritating. I mean really Rose, sneaking out of the tower after us?" Albus said talking for the first time since Rose's and Malfoy's argument started.

Rose very much wanted to point out that both Al and Malfoy would have done the same thing if they saw Rose leaving the dorm in the middle of the night. They probably would have gone one step further and nicked James's Map and Invisibility Cloak just to make sure she didn't see them. And James wouldn't have even got mad with Al for taking his stuff seeing as Albus was 'Protecting' Rose from the big bad, non-existent, boyfriend.

Rose felt like pulling out her hair in frustration. "Protecting me! Protecting me from what? From having a life? From enjoying myself? From being a normal fifteen-year of girl? For Merlin's sake Albus, what on earth does chasing off every guy that gets near me protect me from?" Rose threw up her arms in irritation, she had asked him this so many times she had lost count.

"I don't want you getting hurt Rose and that's what any guy is going to do. Hurt you," Al said his voice soft and calm.

Albus always made this point when they argued, and Rose had to admit that some of the boys that had asked her out had turned out to not be the best boyfriend material. But still, Rose didn't appreciate her family chasing away every guy she wanted to give a chance. There had to be at least one guy that was smart, funny, kind, and a real gentleman. But obviously, Rose's family didn't think anyone was good enough to date her.

"You can't protect me forever Al, sooner or later someone is going to hurt me and you can't stop that from happening by beating up every guy I come in contact with. You are not fixing anything. When someone eventually does break my heart, I would rather have it happen here where I have all my family and friends, than when I've left this place and I'm on my own. I'm capable of protecting myself. I don't need you hexing every guy that asks me out. So please, just stop." Rose held Albus's gaze for a long moment until he finally looked away and nodded stiffly.

"Thank you," Rose breathed though she knew that Al's promise wouldn't last, he usually made this type of promise in these arguments but he couldn't seem to keep them.

"But if he hurts you I will hex his legs off," Al said and Rose just rolled her eyes. There wasn't even a 'he' yet, probably never would be at this rate, and Al was already planning to send him to the hospital wing.

"There will probably be a line," Rose thought of all her friends and family fighting about who got to hex the guy first. She definitely felt sorry for anyone that was on the receiving end of all their anger.

Malfoy sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "Weasley I'm not going to let there be a line because there isn't going to be a him to hurt you."

Rose's anger flared up again and she turned to him.

"Excuse me?! Who the hell do you think you are? You are not my family or my friend so you have absolutely no say in any of this! I can do what I like Malfoy. I am sick and tired of you always butting in. Albus is different, he is allowed to be protective, even if it's to the extreme. You though, you have no right to say who I get to date."

Malfoy just shook his head. "Love, there is no way in hell that I'm letting you date any of the trolls in this school and the minute you even start thinking about it, Albus here and all your family are going to be out for blood like always."

"Why would you even care if I dated someone? Just because you're Albus's best mate doesn't mean you get to mettle in my personal life. I'll say it again because it didn't seem to sink in the first time. Who I date or spend my time with is none of your bloody business Malfoy."

Malfoy moved closer to her again and for those few moments, it was only them. Only them, their anger, and their will to be the one that came out on top. When Malfoy spoke next it was soft, slow, and calculated, like he was thinking about every word before he said it.

"Albus is my brother, Weasley, on that first day when we became friends I practically became related to you. There is no way in hell I'm letting you get hurt. Like the rest of your family, I'm going to protect you whether you want me to or not."

Rose just stood then blinking owlishly at him, trying to find words. Malfoy? Protecting her? There was something seriously wrong with the world. She had never heard him say something like that.

Rose and Malfoy were alike in some ways. She, like Malfoy, loved Quidditch and played on the Gryffindor team. Rose was the best seeker since Harry, and Malfoy was a fantastic Chaser, she could admit that. They both were also top in their class, handing in every homework assignment and often doing extra credit papers. But where Rose was focused and driven in everything she did, Malfoy tended to fool around. Rose couldn't remember the last time she saw him study, and at practice, he tended to be a distraction more than an asset to the team.

They were alike in the sense that they had similar interests, but apart from that Rose didn't think two people could be more different.

To say that they were as good as related angered Rose, and she really didn't know why. If she was being honest with herself, Malfoy all in all wasn't too bad. Compared to some of the other students at Hogwarts he was a right gentleman. He had been raised right and at the end of the day, he was a good person. Rose wasn't so blinded in her dislike for him that she couldn't see that. No matter how much of an arse she thought he was. But the fact that Malfoy felt it was his duty to protect Rose did not sit well with her.

It was one thing to have her family 'protecting' her, but Malfoy wasn't related to her. He wasn't even her friend. Rose detested Malfoy and had since first year. She had always thought he despised her right back. Now he thought that he had to protect her? To rescue her?

It made no sense.

"Malfoy I'm going to say this once," Rose said after she had got her head around what he had said. "I tolerate you because of my cousins. Nothing else. You are not a part of my family, no matter who you're mates with. Coming over for Christmas and summer break makes you a guest, not family. I don't need or want you to protect me. I have family and friends that do that and since you are neither I would appreciate it if you just leave me alone. Unless you are suddenly related to me by blood, you are and never will be family to me."

Malfoy looked down at Rose for a long moment his grey eyes sparkling in a way Rose had never seen and a soft smile formed on his lips replacing his usual smirk. Finally, in a low voice he said "Love, there's more to family than just blood."

Before Rose could say anything to that remark, the hall was filled with a loud bang. Rose, having patrolled the halls many times before, knew that it was the large grandfather clock the next corridor over.

For some reason, all of them stayed silent as the clock ticked off the hour, looking down the hall as the sound echoed off the walls.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. Eleven.

But Rose never heard the clock bring in the next day. At the twelfth bang, the hall was filled with a blinding white light and Rose felt a sharp stab of pain in her chest right where her heart was. She let out a scream at its sudden appearance and could hear another's cry of agony. Then suddenly she could feel her feet leaving the ground, completely out of her control.

She was floating, writhingin the agony that filled her.

Rose's eyes seemed to be glued shut, she couldn't open them to see what was happening around her. As she slowly drifted upwards, she was aware of only the pain that was quickly spreading all over her body, into every limb. Rose thought she heard someone yelling her name, but the pain seemed to dull all her senses and she couldn't hear or move or even think.

Her body was as stiff as a rod and she felt her heavy cloak slip from her shoulder and the cold night air rush to surround her through the thin fabric of her school robes. Then, a weird sensation came over Rose. It felt as if a part of her had suddenly left her body. Like the part that kept her human, kept her from just being a mindless, living corpse. had left her body. She was leaving her body but could still feel it at the same time, she was still aware of the cold surrounding her but it was dimmed as whatever it was moved further away.

The last thing Rose felt was a warm hand covering her own shaking fingers, holding on tight. And Rose found herself gripping the hand just as tightly. It felt as if it would be alright if only she held this warm strong hand in her own. So doing the only thing she could, Rose gripped the hand with all her strength, holding tight as another, stronger, wave of pain swept over her. Even as she screamed she felt herself starting to give into it, felt herself slipping away as the pain overwhelmed her.

Then her world abruptly went black.

~oOo~

Hey, guys. I hope you liked this first chapter, I've had this idea for a long time and have finally decided to post it and see what you all think. In the next chapter, I'll explain everything and this will make more sense but for now, I hope you liked the beginning of my new story.

This is my first Harry Potter FanFiction so I hope this turns out well. I'll be updating every Friday or Saturday, I haven't decided yet but I'll let you know.

I hope you liked it and please review and tell me what you think, I love hearing your feedback.

Until next time.

Cara