A/N: sorry, that was another longish wait. I'm currently working on five fanfics and school is CRAZY
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Lily Potter cornered Rose after Potions that day. The perky little Gryffindor redhead had started at Hogwarts two years after Rose, and was now in her third year.

"Hi, Rose." Lily came up behind her and tugged at Rose's sleeve, causing Rose to jump.

"Oh, hi, Lily," said Rose. "What's up?"

"I need to talk to you," Lily replied, dropping her voice. She seemed really nervous about something, fidgeting with the strap of her book bag, startling green eyes flitting back and forth.

"Why? What's the matter?" Rose glanced around. Cynthia had slipped off somewhere.

"I have to tell you something."

"Okay," said Rose, nonplussed. "What is it?"

"Come on." Lily grabbed Rose's hand and started off, moving with the flow of people, dragging the older girl after her.

"Woah, woah, woah," Rose protested. "What's the idea?"

Lily didn't reply, nor did she loosen her grip around Rose's wrist. Rose was towed down the hall and into a deserted corridor just off the main passage. She pulled her hand out of Lily's.

"I just don't want anyone else to hear," Lily explained, hopping from foot to foot and twirling one of her red curls around and around her finger in a nervous sort of way. She gestured at the steady, noisy stream of students pouring past their little corridor.

Rose crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows. "Fine," she said. "Spill."

Lily hesitated, dropping her gaze. "Something's going on with Al," she admitted. "I'm worried about him, and he won't tell me anything."

Rose blinked. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. See, this is the thing," Lily continued. "You know the Room of Requirement?"

"Yeah." Everyone knew about the Room, and the role it had played back when Uncle Harry went to Hogwarts. It was the stuff of legend.

"Okay. Well, I think someone is blackmailing Albus."

"W - what?"

Lily sighed. "It's a long story. But I'll tell you."

"Let's hear it," said Rose, pulse quickening.

"Well," Lily sighed again. "It all started when James stole Dad's Invisibility Cloak a few years ago. I don't think Dad missed it, because he doesn't usually use it. Or maybe he knew who took it and just didn't say anything, James being the next heir and all. Anyway, one night I was sitting in the common room studying, and it was really late, and then all of a sudden Albus came down from the boy's dorms."

"Wait," Rose interrupted. "This happened about a week before Beauxbatons and Durmstrang arrived, right?"

"Yeah. So Albus came down, and he was carrying something silvery under his arm. He saw me, and he practically jumped out of his shoes in fright. I asked him what he was doing, and then I asked him if the silvery thing was Dad's Invisibility Cloak, and if Albus had stolen it from James.

"He didn't answer right away, just kind of looked at me. Then he said that yes, it was Dad's Cloak, and yes, he had stolen it from James. I said, 'Where are you going?' And he said, 'None of your business. Go to bed. It's late.' And he put on the Cloak and walked out.

"Of course I followed him, but it was pretty hard, and I think he knew I was there because after a while I couldn't hear his footsteps anymore. By then I was in a part of Hogwarts I'd never really been in before, and I just kind of wandered around until I found myself in the hallway where the Room of Requirement usually is."

All of a sudden, something sparked in Rose's memory, something she couldn't believe she had been foolish enough to overlook. "What did this corridor look like?" She asked urgently.

Seemingly rather alarmed by the intensity of Rose's manner, Lily took a step back. "It had this big tapestry; you know the one of Barnabas the Barmy...?"

"Oh, Merlin," Rose muttered, mentally facepalming. "Then what happened?"

"Er - yeah. I was about to go get back to Gryffindor tower, but then a door just - just appeared in the wall opposite the tapestry. I dove behind a statue, and the door opened and this girl stepped out. I stayed behind the statue, because something wasn't right about the whole situation, you know what I mean? So she walked out and closed the door behind her, but then she kind of bumped into an invisible something."

"Albus?"

"Uh-huh. The Cloak slid off him, and Albus almost screamed, and the girl actually did scream, and then I felt like screaming, but I didn't. Anyway, Al and the girl had this minute long stare-off, almost like they knew each other, and then the girl pointed at the Cloak and asked him what did he think he was doing. She had weird accent. And Al told her he was following her. He sounded scared. And then out of the blue the girl said something like 'If you tell anyone, I'll tell your secret.'

Albus looked really scared, and he said okay, and he put the Cloak back on and left, and the girl walked away from me down the corridor. And then a few days later Beauxbatons and Durmstrang arrived, and the Goblet did its thing, and the whole time I was wondering what in Merlin's name that girl had been doing there, because she'd looked almost exactly like the Beauxbatons champion."

For a moment Rose was too stunned to reply. When she finally found her voice, she said, "So... you're saying that Vanessa Ryan was at Hogwarts a week before the rest of her school came?"

Lily considered. "Hmm," she mused, tapping a finger on her chin. "But then, it was dark. The girl wasn't necessarily Vanessa what's-it."

"Oh, I don't know about that," said Rose darkly. "I think it was her."

"Alright," said Lily dismissively. "The point is, ever since then Al's been acting weirdly. That girl threatened him with something. Could you maybe try and talk to him? He respects you."

"Somehow, I don't think he does," Rose replied vaguely, the gears in her head working overtime. "Incidentally, I've noticed his strange behaviour too. And I've talked to him. Or tried to."

"Really? Well, all right. But the whole thing with the girl is pretty strange, don't you think?"

"Boy, do I ever."

Oh, no, another LINE BREAK? 911!!

When Rose finally hunted down Cynthia at the Slytherin table after her talk with Lily, she found she was still incapable of disclosing the Vanessa Situation. Telling Cynthia seemed almost... dangerous.

"Where were you?" Cynthia inquired.

"Er - talking to Lily," Rose replied. It was partly true.

Cynthia raised her eyebrows. "Oh." She paused, staring moodily at her lunch. Then, "I can't think where Scorpius could be!" She burst out angrily. "I've looked everywhere, asked everyone - it's been weeks, and I only have a few leads, none of which actually turn out to, you know, lead anywhere. I don't know what to do!"

"Thia, I - " Rose broke off, something clicking in the back of her mind. Something Lily had said...

Suddenly everything seemed much clearer.

"I know!" Rose whispered excitedly. "Come on." Cynthia looked up, startled, but Rose grabbed her wrist, pulling her up and dragging her down the length of the Slytherin table.

"Hey, hold up!" Cynthia protested. "What d'you think you're doing?"

"Shh," Rose hissed, still pulling her friend along behind her. "Hurry up! I'll tell you in a minute."

The emerged into the Entrance Hall, which was thankfully deserted, but Rose didn't stop there. Letting go of Cynthia, she jogged right on through, taking one of the winding staircases two steps at a time. Cynthia hurried along behind her, letting loose a stream of mingled protests and questions considering Rose's sanity.

O
"W-what?" Cynthia squeaked.

"Long story. Just come on!"

Rose led Cynthia through the castle at a sprint, the memory of her latest encounter with Albus the only thing guiding her. After several wrong turns and much bewildered rambling on Cynthia's part, Rose skidded to a halt, panting, before the tapestry depicting Barnabas the Barmy's vain attempt to train trolls for the ballet.

"Rose Weasley," Cynthia gasped, doubled over, hands on her knees. "What in Merlin's name is going on? Are you sure you don't want to go see Madam Pomfrey?"

"No, no, Cynthia, I'm fine!" Rose turned away from the tapestry and studied the opposite wall, brain working overtime. Uncle Harry had mentioned this before...

"Then explain!" Cynthia straightened up, crossed her arms and glared.

"You know about the Room of Requirement?" Cynthia nodded, and Rose proceeded to fill her in on Lily's experience that night they had gone looking for Scorpius, carefully leaving out all the details about Vanessa Ryan and merely referring to Albus' supposed blackmailer as "the girl."

"And so," Rose finished, "I'm sure Scorpius is in the Room. Maybe he's trapped, I don't know. Uncle Harry once mentioned what you have to do to get into the Room. You can only get in if you really need to. The problem is, how do we get to Scorpius?"

Cynthia gaped.

Rose didn't notice. She began pacing back and forth in front of the bare section of wall, trying to focus her mind completely and exclusively on her need to find Scorpius. I need to find Scorpius, she chanted silently, over and over. I need to find Scorpius Malfoy.

After a minute or so Rose stopped. The wall remained empty. No doors appeared.

"Okay, maybe some rephrasing?" Rose considered, thinking out loud. Then she noticed Cynthia standing stock still, staring at her in alarmed sort of way.

"Come on!" Rose urged her seemingly incapacitated friend. "Help me! Just focus on Scorpius and think really hard about how you need to get to him."

Cynthia blinked, coming out of her reverie. Her green eyes took on a steely glint, and she gave Rose a determined nod.

"Good." Rose stood still and shut her eyes. I need the room that Scorpius is in, she started. Then, suddenly, she remembered something else. Her heart sank.

"It won't work," Rose mumbled, opening her eyes.

"Huh?"

"I'm pretty sure you can't get in if someone else is using it at that moment."

"You're kidding," Cynthia deadpanned.

"No, I - "

"You brought me up here for no reason?" Cynthia crossed her arms, her face settling into that signature Don't mess with me look.

Rose laughed out of sheer bewilderment. "What - "

"I suppose you think it's funny?" Cynthia interrupted, frostier then ever. "Giving me false hopes?"

False hopes?

"Ha, ha, good one," she continued, letting out a mirthless laugh. "You know what? Forget it. Just - just stay away from me."

Rose gaped, struck speechless. Cynthia had walked all the way to the end of the corridor before Rose found her voice again.

"Hey, hold up!" Rose called, making to follow her. "What's the deal?"

"The deal," said Cynthia, her voice soft, yet carrying. "Is that you don't really give a Galleon where Scorpius is, and I don't really want to be around you if you don't care."

Then she turned and ran.

Rose stood, frozen, heart pounding on her eardrums. Cynthia thought she didn't care about... Scorpius? Where had that come from? Of course she cared about Scorpius. She loved him like a brother. He practically was her brother.

And he was gone.

Rose wondered if she'd just lost Cynthia too.

Then she told herself not to think like that. Cynthia was overtired and worried out of her mind. She probably just needed some time to cool down. Rose would just go apologize later on.

Meanwhile, they weren't any nearer to the solving the puzzle than when they'd started.
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A/N: Oki doki smoki. Ily unicorns. Comment and vote!