Chapter 30- There's More Too This Then I Thought

Disclaimer- Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, even though I wish he was mine.

The last month of school kept Nora busier than she ever thought she could be. Studying for exams was an afterthought when it came to the changes that were occurring in her life.

It had only taken a couple of days for the wizarding world to get over its shock and instead of becoming a panicked mob of frightened citizens, the wizarding population of the United Kingdom became a panicked and angry mob of frightened citizens, who complained every chance they could get. The letters that were written to the Prophet, after the original article on her abilities was published, all had about the same message of Nora being a danger to society that needed to be locked up immediately and that someone in the Ministry needed to be held accountable for keeping such a security threat a secret. Nora continuously voted for Sampson to be the one to take the fall.

Things at school weren't great either. While the Gryffindor's thought it was the coolest thing in the world that one of their house mates had super powers, the rest of the school didn't like it as much. Now that they had a specific reason why they should be scared of her, they were using it every chance they could get. This had resulted in several fights between Gryffindor's and several members of the other houses, which the Prophet also shortly got wind of and then blamed on her and the horrible teaching staff that was currently employed at Hogwarts. Their words, not hers.

Nora sighed as she scribbled down yet another answer on her Transfiguration exam. Nora peered around and huffed angrily over the humiliation of having to take her exam alone, but still at the same time as everyone else. Yes, the Ministry had insisted that she take her final written exams a part from all the other students in order to make sure that she wouldn't cheat. Nora had not been pleased and there was a broken window in her dorm room that proved it. The Ministry had even made her take a surprise exam 2 weeks ago, before all of the exams began, to see if she actually was a prodigy student, even though she had only developed her telepathy at the beginning of the year. Something they were well aware of. Nora smirked as she circled the correct answer to one of the exam questions on her paper as she remembered the disappointed looks on the Ministry official's faces when she scored a 95% on her exam.

Nora quickly scribbled down the answer to the last question and got up from her desk, exam in hand.

"Finished, Miss. Wilson?" Monroe asked as Nora approached her desk. Monroe had been chosen to oversee her Transfiguration exam, since Gale could not leave the rest of the 6th years unattended during their exam period.

"Yes," Nora replied and she held out the exam in front of her.

"I would like to see it before she hands it in," a shrill voice said from the side of the room.

Nora's lip curled in displeasure as she turned her head to look at the woman in the corner. Nancy Blotter was yet another one of the Ministry's new anti-cheating precautions and she had to be the most annoying person on the planet. Not to mention, she seemed to have an unhealthy obsession with the colour purple.

Monroe sent the woman a dark look, which, paired with Nora`s look of displeasure, made the woman cower slightly in her seat. "Why?" Monroe asked in exasperation.

"Because it is my job to check her work," Nancy replied as she smoothed her shockingly violet skirt with her hands nervously.

"What exactly are you checking her exam for?" Monroe asked impatiently.

"Any irregularities. For example, I must see if she wrote you any secret messages that she did not wish me to see," Nancy replied, her chin jutting upwards unattractively.

Nora winced slightly when she saw Monroe's eye begin to twitch with rage. Monroe stood up from her seat and stared at the small woman in the corner coldly. "Are you telling me Miss. Blotter," Monroe paused for effect and Nancy whimpered slightly when she noticed the frigid look on Monroe's face, "that Miss. Wilson, a 17 year old girl, and I, the next headmistress of this illustrious school, are planning something nefarious together? Because if you are, I promise you that you will be out of this school before you can even blink."

Nora took the dangerous tone in Monroe's voice as a sign to leave and she rushed out of the room as Nancy began to stutter an answer to Monroe's question. Luckily for Nora the hallways were practically empty since most people were either outside or writing their exams, so she happily managed to avoid mobs of jeering Slytherin's. Nora walked quickly through the hall and turned a corner, only to jump into the nearest alcove in the wall, when she almost walked right into the middle of a fight between Zabini and Scorpius.

Nora peered out from her hiding place and breathed a sigh of relief when it was clear that neither of them had seen her round the corner.

"Tatiana," Scorpius said in an exasperated voice. "Could we please do this later? I need to go do something."

"Do this later," Zabini spluttered. "This is about our relationship Scorpius, or lack thereof in our case!"

"What do you mean 'lack thereof'," Scorpius said angrily.

"How about the fact that we haven't had sex in weeks," Zabini exclaimed. "The most contact we've had this entire month is when you kiss me like your bloody grandmother."

Nora had to cover her mouth with her hand in order to keep herself from laughing out loud at how red Scorpius looked.

"Why don't you bloody well yell it to the entire school, Tatiana," Scorpius hissed.

"I will if it means I can get shagged," Zabini replied angrily. Nora snorted under her breath. Zabini was quite the model of class and elegance.

"I'm going through some stuff right now," Scorpius replied heatedly.

"So you don't want to have sex," Zabini replied in disbelief. "Every bloke wants to have sex. So the question is... who are you having sex with?"

"What?" Scorpius exclaimed in alarm. "I'm not shagging anyone. Have you gone bloody mental?"

"It's Weasley isn't it?" Zabini snarled and Scorpius' eyes widened in shock. "I knew it. She's been acting funny around you ever since she fell down those stairs and broke her head or something."

"I am not sleeping with Rose," Scorpius replied adamantly.

"Sure, Scorpius," Zabini said with a roll of her eyes. "And you've always called her 'Rose' as well."

Scorpius looked clearly taken aback by Zabini's comment and Nora couldn't help but think that she knew exactly why Scorpius had stopped having sex with Zabini, and it wasn't just because she was a horrible human being.

"That's what I thought," Zabini said silkily. "So, since you're shagging Weasley, I've decided to tell you that if you don't stop... I'm going to shag who ever I bloody well like."

Scorpius swore under his breath and stared at Zabini like she was psychotic. "I'm not dealing with this right now," he said with frustration as he brushed past Zabini and began walking in the opposite direction from where Nora was hiding.

"Don't you dare walk away from me," Zabini warned and Nora watched as she marched off after Scorpius and out of sight.

Nora stepped out from her hiding place and stared at the place where Scorpius and Zabini had just been. Nora knew for a fact that Rose was not having sex with Scorpius and that Scorpius wasn't going through a promiscuous stage, which meant... Scorpius wasn't having sex with anyone.

Nora grinned to herself as she continued her walk through the hallways. She had never been so excited about two people not having sex in her entire life.

"So how did you do on your exam, Rose?" Alice asked.

Rose peered over at where her friend was lying on the grass. "I think it went alright. But I think I completely messed up question 16."

"Oh shut up, Rosie," Andy said. "You got an O on your exam and we all know it."

"I wonder why Nora's taking so long to get here," Al replied from where he was propped up against a tree. "She should not have taken this long to write her exam."

"Maybe the purple people eater is giving her a hard time," Andy replied cheekily, which earned him a high five from Dave.

"She was but, let's just say, she may not be long for this world," Nora said from behind Rose and she whirled around to see her friend smiling brightly at her.

"Why?" David asked lifting his head from her it was resting on Alice's stomach to stare at Nora.

"Monroe was supervising my transfiguration exam," Nora replied gleefully as she sat down beside Al.

"Monroe's probably hiding her body as we speak," Al chuckled.

"How was your exam though?" Rose asked.

"Easy," Nora replied coolly. "It took me so long to get here because I ran into someone."

Al instantly went rigid. "Who was it this time?"

"It wasn't like that," Nora replied sincerely. "I just ran into Scorpius."

Rose fidgeted uncomfortably at the name. "What did he want?" she asked absent-mindedly.

"His relationship with Zabini hasn't been so hot lately," Nora replied.

Rose didn't know why, but she found herself really liking the idea that Zabini and Malfoy's relationship wasn't faring so well.

"I've heard about that," Alice replied eagerly. "There are rumours going around that Malfoy's shagging someone else."

Rose's eyes shot open in surprise. "Really?" she asked and then instantly regretted doing so.

David shot her a surprised look. "When did you become so interested in who Malfoy's shagging, Rose?"

"I'm just surprised that's all," Rose stammered in embarrassment.

"I frankly do not care," Andy replied. "Since tonight I plan on getting drunk and forgetting all of my problems."

"The only problem you have Andy is lack of self restraint," Al replied cheekily. "It's your fault you tackled Gerard the other day and got detention."

"He accused Nora of using her powers this quidditch season and I wasn't about to let him walk away after saying that," Andy replied passionately.

"While I appreciate the act of chivalry Andy, the professors know I never cheated, so I really don't care what anyone thinks," Nora replied. "You know that."

"Ya, ya," Andy said with a wave of his hand. "I'm still going to look out for you anyway."

"Okay Andy," Al said with a laugh. "We get it. You love Nora like a sister. Let's change the subject back to the party. Who's getting the alcohol?"

"James of course," Nora replied in a matter of face tone. "Fred and Darren will probably tag along."

"I thought he was too busy being tied down by our lovely head girl," Al chuckled.

"He was able to get away for the afternoon apparently. But something tells me James wouldn't mind being tied down by Shasta," Andy replied suggestively and David and Al snorted loudly in response.

"Please don't do anything stupid tonight you guys," Alice said worriedly while shooting Andy a disgusted look.

"Ya, Rose," Andy said with a sly grin. "Don't get as smashed as you did last year, because we all know what happens when you do."

Rose gave her friends dirty looks when they began to laugh at her misfortune. She had made herself promise to not drink too much at tonight's annual school wide, end of year, bash. The end of year party had become a tradition at Hogwarts ever since the school was rebuilt after the battle against Voldemort at the end of the Second War. While at first the party was just meant to promote house unity, that message quickly changed when people started to bring alcohol. While everyone from every house was invited to the party, which this year was taking place in the Gryffindor common room, the only example of house unity Rose had ever seen was people from different houses hooking up and then regretting it immensely the next day.

However, Rose had to admit that everyone desperately needed a party. Rose had honestly never seen so many fights and arguments in such a short period of time and she was pretty sure it was sending a horrible message to the younger students, who were already terrified of Nora to begin with. Rose stared over at Nora, who was now attempting to thumb wrestle Al and she couldn't help but smile. For someone who had been recently exposed to the entire wizarding world as a possible threat to national security, she was handling everything rather well.

Rose had also handled being bedridden for a good week after Darius had attacked her with as much grace as she could muster. She had definitely not enjoyed telling people that she had just fallen down a flight of stairs when they had begun to notice her absence and had come to visit her. However, the one thing she had not taken very well was the fact that she had totally prevented Scorpius from being knocked back into a wall, possibly saving his life. And what exactly had possessed her to do something so irrational?

She honestly had no idea.

That question had been plaguing her for the past four weeks and she could not come up with a good enough answer to explain the sudden grip of fear that had grabbed a hold of her heart when Darius had directed his wand in Scorpius' direction. Or why the solution to getting rid of that fear was to sacrifice herself for a bloke who was able to get on her very last nerve every time he struck up a conversation with her. Alice had to have been the only one to come up with the best explanation for Rose's complete lapse in judgement. She believed that Rose's Gryffindor spirit had kicked in and that she must have felt obligated to save Malfoy from being killed by a madman. Nora had not liked that explanation, since she was convinced that Rose had latent romantic feelings for Malfoy, which was absolutely hilarious.

Rose turned her gaze away from her friends only to suddenly catch a glimpse of Malfoy walking purposefully across the grounds towards the quidditch pitch. The horrible bruise that had been on the side of his face was now gone and she had not been near him long enough to know how the gash on his head looked, since she had been avoiding him like the plague. Also, while Rose wasn't completely sure, she was pretty sure the reason why she was able to avoid him so well, was because he was avoiding her as well.

While she was grateful for his silence, she couldn't help but be a little peeved over his lack of thanks. After all, she had possibly saved his life. Didn't she at least deserve a thank you or at least a small acknowledgement from him showing her that he appreciated still being alive.

"Oi!" James called out as he loped towards the group of friends, snapping Rose from her thoughts. "Can you lot come help Darren, Fred and I get the bloody firewhiskey into the school? Stone has been on our backs the entire day and we're having some trouble getting it to the common room without getting caught."

"Why don't you get your beloved to help you Jamsie," Nora sniggered.

James fixed Nora with a dark look. "Someone needs to get up off of their asses and help me before I make them. It's my last day of school and I plan on making it memorable, and I cannot do that without a sufficient amount of alcohol for the rest of the school."

"Relax, James," Al said with a sigh as he stood up from the ground. "I will help you smuggle illegal firewhiskey into the school and Andy and David will help."

"I don't remember volunteering," David protested.

"You'll get free alcohol if you come along," Al promised while giving his brother a meaningful look.

James gave Al a glare before responding grudgingly. "Fine. Yes, you'll get free whiskey."

"Brilliant," Andy said excitedly. "Come on Dave, Al. Let's go distract Stone while James sneaks our whiskey in."

Rose gave her family and friends a disapproving look as they trotted towards where Stone was watching everyone on the grounds. "Something is going to happen tonight," Rose said worriedly as she watched James slip away from the group and head off in the opposite direction of Stone. "I can just tell."

"You worry too much, Rosie" Nora replied lazily. "Besides, you do know that the more you worry about a certain thing, the more likely it is too happen."

Rose bit her lip worriedly as she watched the guys distract Stone. She didn't care what Nora said. There was an uneasy feeling clawing at her stomach and she just couldn't shake it. The only problem was, was the feeling about her friends or herself.

James had, by far, out done himself with the amount of alcohol he had obtained. There was a wide variety of both muggle and wizarding drinks and Rose had hesitantly decided to try a muggle concoction that was called a rum and coke.

"Rosie, quit staring at it like it's going to bite you," James laughed. "It's just muggle rum and that weird fizzy stuff they call 'coke'. It's actually pretty good."

Rose glared at her cousin and took a large gulp of the concoction that was sloshing around in her cup. Rose instantly grimaced at the amount of alcohol she could taste. "Ugh, James!" Rose exclaimed. "How much of that rum stuff did you put in here?"

"All I remember is that I put more rum in there then coke," James grinned and Rose stared down at her cup in disgust. This one drink would probably have her set for the rest of the night.

Rose heaved a sigh and began to push her way through the hordes of people surrounding her, while doing her best to not spill her drink on any unsuspecting people.

Practically everyone from fourth year and up had shown up for the party and Rose could even make out a few younger students who had snuck in to see what all the fuss was about. Rose managed to shove herself past another group of people into a more open area where her friends and family were hanging out.

"Rose!" Andy called out loudly, already on his third drink. "Did you get one of James' muggle drinks? Aren't they brilliant?"

Rose raised a brow in her friend's direction. "They're great because they're about 90% alcohol. You really shouldn't drink anymore or you're going to do something you'll regret."

Andy glared at her stubbornly. "That's no way to support house unity, Rosie."

"Since when did getting smashed symbolize house unity?" Rose shot back and everyone blinked at her in surprise.

"Bloody hell, Rose," Al said with a laugh. "What's got your knickers in a knot?"

Rose sat down in the nearest seat with a loud huff. "It's nothing."

"Are you sure?" Nora asked with a grin. "Because it looks like something's bothering you."

Rose shot her a friend a dirty look. "You do know I can rescind the offer for you to live at my house for the summer until the moment you step inside my house," Rose snapped.

"Woah," Al said in surprise. "Calm down, Rosie. It's obvious something's bothering you, so why don't you tell us what's wrong."

"I don't know," Rose said with a frustrated sigh. "I should be happy right now. I'm officially done my sixth year, all my friends are safe, there are no mad men trying to kill me and no one has made a single comment about Nora being a freak the entire night. I should be dancing on air right now, but instead, something has been bothering all day."

"Maybe it's your conscience's way of telling you that you need to do something," Alice offered with an eager look.

"Huh?" Rose responded with a bemused look.

"What Alice is trying to say, Rose," Nora stated, "is that maybe you need to do something important or you're going to keep feeling like crap for the rest of the night."

Rose just stared at her friend. She knew exactly what she was talking about and she didn't like it.

"Is now really the best time to talk to Malfoy about what happened?" Rose questioned unhappily.

"What do you think?" Nora asked seriously.

Rose's shoulders slumped in disappointment. Nora would say something like that. After all she had been trying to convince Rose to talk to Scorpius for weeks now.

"Wait a minute," David suddenly said. "I'm confused. Is Rose talking to Malfoy about what happened to them on the astronomy tower or her latent romantic feelings towards him?"

"I do not have latent romantic feelings for Malfoy," Rose protested loudly.

"She's just talking to him about what happened on top of the astronomy tower, Dave," Alice replied.

"I think she should talk to him about both," Andy said under his breath.

"Shut it, Andy," Rose barked.

"When you're talking to him you should probably call him by his first name by the way," Al offered.

"And why would I do that?" Rose asked.

"Because he only calls you by your first name, remember. I told you this weeks ago." Nora replied in a matter of fact tone.

Rose fidgeted uncomfortably over the news. Why in the world was he calling her by her first name? Especially after the incident in the middle of the year that ended with him insisting that they only call each other by their last names. However, Rose was stubborn. That much she did know. She was not about to give in to doing something that was going to be very uncomfortable for her and most likely Malfoy as well.

"I don't even know where he is right now," Rose said. "He may not even be here."

Andy snorted into his cup. "Sure," he said sarcastically. "The day Scorpius Malfoy, the most popular guy in Slytherin, misses an all school party, will be the day that Alice hexes someone for accidently bumping into her in the hall."

Rose glared at her friend and was about to say something back in return, when she was surprised by a large crash from behind her. Rose and her friends all turned their heads to gape in astonishment at James, who was currently snogging Shasta Kincaid very publically on top of one of the common room tables.

Rose gaped at her cousin as several wolf whistles from a few members of the crowd surrounding the table began to make her ears ring painfully. When James finally let go of a visibly embarrassed Shasta, Rose couldn't help but laugh at the punch drunk look on James' face.

"This," James said with a pause as he pointed towards Shasta, "is my girlfriend and I plan to one day marry this girl and have loads of kids with her," he declared. Shasta appeared to be trying to decide on whether or not she was mortified or pleased by his declaration, since her eyes kept roaming between him and jumping from the table to hide. "This means," James continued loudly. "That I, the James Potter, am now a one woman man for the rest of my life."

Al snorted loudly from beside Rose and several girls in the crowd began to protest loudly at James' news.

"I know, I know ladies," James replied soothingly. "It is hard to hear but it is the truth. It is my plan to end my career at Hogwarts with a girlfriend and there is nothing anyone can do about it." Rose watched in amusement as James grabbed a thoroughly disgruntled looking Shasta by the hand before he jumped from the table he was standing on to the floor below.

"It won't last," Al said with a shake of his head. "Shasta isn't his type."

"James has a type?" Alice questioned.

"Ya," David replied. "I swear he just gets with any girl that's even the slightest bit of a challenge."

"Right-o my friend," Al replied with a grin. "His new challenge is having a girlfriend whose core beliefs are completely parallel to his. That's why it won't last."

"Are you sure?" Alice replied. "He seems pretty dedicated to her."

"Oh he's dedicated to her alright," Al replied, "but I highly doubt she's dedicated to him."

"I'd listen to him," Andy said with a smirk. "James is his brother after all."

Rose was well aware that her friends had completely forgotten that they were talking about her and she silently thanked James a million times for just being himself. When she was sure none of them were watching her, Rose slowly got up from her seat and quickly shuffled away from the group; her horrible drink forgotten. Rose swiftly pushed her way through the throng of people on the dance floor towards the direction of the balcony. She needed fresh air desperately and maybe she could come up with a good enough excuse for why she was never going to talk to Malfoy, since apparently keeping her dignity intact was not a good enough reason these days.

With one last final push, Rose managed to make her way out of the packed crowd and through as set of glass doors onto the balcony that was connected to the Gryffindor common room. Rose took a deep breath of the outdoor air that surrounded her. It was a bit colder that night then what the end of June in Scotland usually had to offer and Rose was thankful that she had decided to wear a cardigan over the Gryffindor t-shirt she was wearing.

Luckily, she was the only one out on the balcony, since it was too early in the night for any drunken couples to be making forays out onto the balcony to hook up under the stars. Rose rolled her eyes over how silly that sounded. She desperately hoped that the bloke that she ended up with would never think that taking her out onto a starlit balcony would lead to her being up for anything. Over all, she was thankful for the alone time.

"Lovely night isn't it?" a familiar voice said from behind her and Rose's body visibly flinched at the sound of Malfoy's voice. Rose massaged her forehead to try and alleviate some of the built up irritation that had made a home inside of her mind.

"Ya... it's lovely," Rose replied sarcastically without turning around to look at Malfoy.

"Do you mind if I stay out here?" Malfoy asked politely.

Rose desperately wanted to tell him to get lost but she knew she didn't have a good enough reason to do so. "Sure," Rose said with a sigh as she gestured to the spot next to her. "Be my guest."

Malfoy seemed to hesitate over what he should do because it took him awhile to make his way over to the spot next to Rose on the balcony. "I need to talk to you," he said in a serious voice and Rose couldn't help but frown. Rose was almost ready to bet a few galleons on the idea that Scorpius and Nora talked to each other via telepathy, because there had to be no way he suddenly had the urge to come talk to her after she had just run away from the friends who were trying to make her talk to him in the first place.

"Really," Rose said with a hint of resentment. "Because the last time we had a chat we were both tied up on the top of the bloody astronomy tower fighting for our lives."

"I understand why you're not happy with me right now," Scorpius replied, "but it's not like you've tried to talk to me either."

"Excuse me," Rose spluttered, turning her head to look at him for the first time in a very long time. "Last time I checked, I was the one who got launched into a wall by a blasting curse."

Rose watched as Scorpius' face darkened considerably and she instantly wished she could eat her words.

"If you were going to regret pushing me out of the way so much, why did you do it?" Scorpius asked darkly.

Rose just stared at Scorpius. She could no longer see any sign of the horrible bruise that had been gracing the right side of his face for weeks and she couldn't tell what had become of the gash on the side of his head. But the one thing that seemed to stand out the most about him was the fact that his usual emotionless mask seemed to have disappeared and in its place was the face of a young man who had never looked more confused in his entire life.

Cut him some slack Rose.

Rose pushed back her pride and stared at Scorpius. "I'm sorry, Malfoy but I can honestly say that I have no idea why I pushed you out of the way of Darius' curse. I guess it was instinct or something, but I promise you that I don't regret keeping you from getting hit," Rose replied as honestly as she could. "I am a Weasley after all. It's in my blood to perform stupid self sacrificing acts of bravery on a whim."

Scorpius laughed slightly at her comment before becoming serious again; his eyes fixed on something in the distance.

"Malfoy?" Rose questioned worriedly.

"Thanks," Scorpius said in a gruff voice, turning his head to look at Rose.

"Thanks for what?" Rose asked in confusion.

"For being yourself and saving my ass," Scorpius replied with a half smile.

Rose felt a blush beginning to creep its way onto her cheeks as she searched for the right words to say. "You're welcome."

Scorpius nodded his head happily at her response and his half smile transformed into an actual smile. Rose was taken aback. Malfoy was acting like a completely different person and Rose wasn't quite sure what to think of it. Here he was smiling like she had just told him he'd won a free vacation to Costa Rica and all she had said was 'you're welcome'. It wasn't like she minded the smile, since he was rather attractive when he didn't look like he was witnessing the end of the world. Wait... what?

Scorpius didn't seem to notice the confused look on Rose's face because he continued to gain confidence as he spoke to Rose. "Nora finally convinced me to come talk to you yesterday," Scorpius admitted.

"Did she?" Rose replied in a cynical voice. "Remind me to thank her."

Scorpius chuckled at her response. "I also have this idea that would really benefit the both of us in the long run."

"What kind of idea," Rose asked curiously.

"The kind of idea that involves the two of us becoming friends," Scorpius said in a slightly uncertain voice.

Rose's eyes widened in shock. "What?"

"We should become friends," Scorpius offered again. "Or at least we should be civil towards one another. Especially since we're both friends with Nora and she's going to need the both of us if things start going bad for her."

"Friends," Rose repeated in a distant voice. Why didn't she like that word when it came from Scorpius' mouth? She could honestly never imagine the two of them discussing their classes or laughing at something one of the Grenning twin's had done earlier that day like she did with Al, David or Andy. It just didn't seem to fit inside her mind. Not to mention, this new friendlier version of Scorpius was a far cry from the bloke she had been fighting with in the hallway only moments before Darius had ambushed them. Rose remembered the look of absolute confusion on his face and the way he had grabbed a hold of her like it had only happened hours before. Rose especially remembered the pleading sound to his voice when it looked like he was about kiss her.

A whole flood of emotions suddenly came crashing down upon Rose and she found herself sinking to the floor from mental exhaustion.

"Rose," Scorpius said worriedly. "Are you okay?"

Rose mentally shuddered at the way he said her name. Every time he said it, it made goose bumps appear all across her body and she couldn't help but enjoy every moment of it.

What the hell was going on? Rose had barely registered that Scorpius was now sitting next to her, continually asking her if she was alright. Every memory from that year alone was coming back to her like waves. Each and every time Scorpius looked apologetic for saying something horrible about her, when he seemed jealous about her being around Darren and the few times where it had looked like he had been about to kiss her, began to appear to her in a different light. Instead of seeing Scorpius' supposed interest in her and the jealousy he felt towards any of the guys who got near her, she was seeing everything the way she should have seen it in the first place.

She was seeing things from her own perspective.

"Oh," Rose breathed in astonishment.

She had loved the attention Scorpius had given her when he had approached her when she was alone, she had been hurt horribly whenever he had insulted her and she had wanted him to kiss her. Merlin's beard, how she had wanted it. Not to mention, she now knew exactly why she had saved Scorpius from getting hit by that blasting curse. She had done it because she genuinely cared about his safety and because she really had no idea what kind of spell was going to come out of that wand at the time.

"Oh what, Rose?" Scorpius asked.

Rose blinked in response. The only logical explanation for all of the things she had felt and done was because of one thing.

Rose Weasley fancied Scorpius Malfoy.

It all made sense now. Everything Nora had been telling her had been true. No matter how infuriating he could be, Rose had somewhere along the way, fallen for Scorpius... and she had fallen hard.

"Nothing," Rose replied shakily.

"Are you sure? You don't look so good."

Rose laughed in a slightly hysterical voice at his comment. Of course she didn't look good. She had just realized that she fancied Scorpius Malfoy for probably her entire sixth year and beyond.

"If you don't want to be friends, we can just be civil with each other," Scorpius suggested and Rose could hear the disappointment in his voice like a set of ringing bells.

"Civil," Rose said with a slight shake of her head as she slowly got to her feet. "I guess I'll think about it and then... then I'll get back to you." Rose knew she was panicking. She only had to stare at the look of discontent on Scorpius' face to know that he liked her too. How could she have been so stupid! It had been staring her in the face for months. He wasn't trying to kiss her just to play with her emotions. He genuinely wanted to kiss her and, knowing men, do other things with her as well.

"You'll... get back to me?" Scorpius questioned in confusion.

Rose backed away from Scorpius, positioning herself in the best possible location to be able to run for it when she needed to the most. "Yes," she nodded indecisively, well aware that she sounded like she was going crazy.

Rose's heart broke over the hurt expression on Scorpius' face. What are you doing you git? You just realized you fancy this bloke. You should be telling him how you feel, not running away.

"I can't," Rose whispered to herself but Scorpius still heard her.

"You can't what?" he asked in frustration.

Rose backed up even closer to the balconies exit. "I- I have to...," Rose stammered as she stared at Scorpius. Her eyes connected with his for only a second and her stomach churned pleasantly at the sight in front of her. That was when Rose snapped. "I have to go now." Before Scorpius could even open his mouth to say anything back to her, Rose pivoted on her heel and rushed into the crowded room in front of her; silently praying that the hordes of people around her would cover her escape.

What are you doing? Go back! Go back now before you can't.

But she couldn't and before she knew it she had stumbled out of the Gryffindor portrait hole and into a dark empty hallway. Rose hurried down the hallway and rounded a corner, only to collapse to her knees in an alcove where she was sure she was hidden from the world.

How had this happened? Exactly when in her life did she inadvertently throw all reason to the wind and decide to fall for Scorpius Malfoy of all people? Rose shuffled around on her knees to face the wall behind her and she began to bang her head lightly against the wall in frustration.

Was she overreacting? She didn't really think so. After all, if her father found out about this, he would probably track down Malfoy and kill him, and Rose really didn't want that.

But wasn't that the only problem? Aside from the fact that Scorpius had a girlfriend, there really was nothing stopping her from liking him. However, she was still terrified of the idea. What would her family think and what about Scorpius' roller coaster mood swings. Sure, he had been pleasant and nice to her just now, but most of the time he walked around the castle like someone who had just watched a friend die and Rose wasn't quite sure she could handle that.

Rose sighed heavily and got to her feet. She could think more about this later. Right now she needed to get back to the party before someone came looking for her and started asking questions. After all, she would probably see Scorpius again over the summer, since Nora was now living with her, and she could possibly talk to him then. Possibly.

Rose walked out from her hiding place only to jump back in surprise upon seeing someone standing directly in front of her.

"Oh there you are," Zabini drawled in a bored voice. "I need to speak with you."

"Were you following me?" Rose asked in surprise, still standing a few steps back from the girl who was several inches taller than she was. Rose wasn't short, but Zabini had to at least have a good 4-5 inches on her and a horrible temper to go with the extra height.

Zabini flipped a section of her long black hair behind her shoulder and she stared coldly in Rose's direction. "Obviously. I wanted to talk to you earlier but you were engaged in a conversation with my boyfriend."

Rose gulped at the angry tone to Zabini's voice. "Why didn't you just cut in then? I really wouldn't have minded."

"This is something," Zabini said taking a step closer to Rose, "that Scorpius shouldn't hear and since you sped out of that room like a bat out of hell, I had no choice but to follow."

"Well," Rose said irritably. "What do you want to tell me that couldn't wait until another day?"

Zabini sighed wearily as she inspected her nails. "I know that Scorpius fancies you."

Rose's eyebrows shot up into her hairline at the news. "What?"

"He fancies you," Zabini replied, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "And I'm pretty sure you know it." Rose just stared at Zabini in shocked silence. Zabini nodded with a scowl on her face. "I'll take that as a yes."

"But-," Rose stammered. "But aren't you furious."

"I was a little at first," Zabini admitted dryly. "To be compared to you is horrible for any girl." Rose shot Zabini a dark look. "So what changed your mind," Rose replied through gritted teeth.

Zabini's mouth morphed into a sly smile. "Because I realized that Scorpius will always do what he's told."

Rose stared at Zabini in confusion. "I don't understand."

Zabini's smile grew larger at Rose's statement. "I knew he wouldn't tell you and I don't even think he's told the lovely Miss. Wilson either. So now I'm going to tell you what I wanted to tell you for quite some time." Zabini quickly closed the small distance in between the two of them with only a few steps, so that she was now standing directly in front of her. Zabini smiled sweetly down at Rose. "You can have all the fun in the world with him for the rest of our time at Hogwarts," Zabini replied in a warning tone. "Since all you really are to him is the thing he can never have."

"I haven't- what?" Rose replied in confusion

"You're something shiny," Zabini explained. "All boys love shiny things. Believe me, I know. And you're shiny because you are the daughter or Ronald and Hermione Weasley and he's the son of Draco Malfoy. You do the math. He wants you because you are the perfect thing to chase after. He could never have you, which means it's safe to want you."

Rose stared at Zabini in stunned silence. That made sense. Sure, Scorpius may like her but all he really liked about her was the fact that she was someone he could never get. "I haven't done anything with him," Rose replied in a cold voice.

"Sure," Zabini said sarcastically. "Not many can resist Scorpius. He looks almost angelic at times and girls go mad over that stuff. However, like I said before, do what you will with him during our seventh year," Zabini said before her expression suddenly turned threatening, "because once we are all done school, he's mine and you will be out of his life faster than I can give the order."

"I haven't done anything with him," Rose insisted frostily. "That's the truth. But I will really enjoy seeing what happens when that statement is a lie."

Zabini's eyes turned wild over Rose's words and Rose was pretty sure she was going to hit her, but Zabini seemed to think twice and backed off a few steps. "Just remember," Zabini said frigidly. "No matter what you do with him... he's always going to be mine. Have a lovely night."

Rose watched as Zabini flipped her hair dramatically and began to stalk off towards the Gryffindor common room. Rose, however, didn't move. She just stared into the never ending darkness in front of her. While she had no idea what Zabini meant by Scorpius being hers no matter what, she completely understood Zabini's theory about her being the one thing Scorpius couldn't have. She was right. Pretty much every guy loved the thrill of the chase.

A tear slipped from Rose's eyes and she hastily wiped it away. Well, she would never give Zabini the satisfaction of knowing that she had been right. She was, in no way, something for anyone to win and she would never share anyone with Tatiana Zabini of all people. Just like Zabini had said, it was horrible for Rose to even be compared with her.

So what was the solution to this entire mess? She would ignore it. She would never get back to Scorpius on the being friends issue because she would probably never be able to look at him again without getting the urge to punch him in the face. She would make sure to stay out of the house if he ever did come over to see Nora, which she guessed would be very little with her parents around and in those two months of being Scorpius free, Rose guessed that her feelings for him would eventually fade away and he would get sick of chasing after her. She was so stubborn that it would probably work. Problem solved.

Scorpius could have Zabini all he wanted, but he was never to going have her. "I'm no one's trophy," Rose whispered angrily to herself and she began her slow lonely walk back to the Gryffindor common room; trying in vain to fight back a stream of angry tears.

A/N- DONE! I can't believe that it is all finished *tear*. So how was that for a dramatic ending but do not worry I have already begun work on a sequel which I promise will have the same amount of drama (and maybe more) then its predecessor. The second book in my series will be called "Forbidden Thoughts' so look out for it since I will probably have the first chapter up in a week or so since it is done and I just need to fix it up a bit. Thank you to everyone who has posted a review. I adore you all :). Anyway please read and review and goodbye until next time.

Update! Evolving Stakes' sequel Forbidden Thoughts is now up

Update #2 (June 27th 2010)- Today I found out that someone has decided to copy the first chapter of my story and make it their own, even posting it on this site under the same name. This is something I deem to be very very low. If this continues, I will take down my story. So please, to the person who is copying my story, stop.