Well, this is it, folks - the final chapter! I hope you had as much fun reading this as I did writing it. Once again, thank you to all my lovely reviewers, and to everyone who favourited/alerted this story - you made it all worthwhile!

Hugs ~ Louisam

Scorpius was in heaven. Rose, it seemed, was as passionate about snogging him as she was at getting top marks in class. He kissed his way down her neck again, but this time he didn't stop at her collarbone, continuing down to her chest where he found himself foiled by his own jumper. Frustrated, he tugged at the neckline, pulling it further down her shoulder and exposing an inch of lacy black bra. Unbidden, his hand started to wander up under the jumper, caressing her silky skin as it headed northwards.

Rose was quite busy herself. Her hands were sliding up and down his back, and when she scratched him lightly it sent lightning bolts down his spine. Her mouth left his to nibble at his earlobe, and he couldn't suppress the moan that escaped him. His hand slid further up her ribcage, and he caressed the underside of her lace-covered breast with this thumb. Rose sighed into his mouth and arched up into him, and his mind went blissfully blank for a moment.

Hang on, that's not me blanking out – is the light whiter? Scorpius opened his eyes to find the room flickering around him. The sofa underneath them seemed to be fading, becoming insubstantial, and in that second he realised they were going to hit the ground. He twisted Rose on top of him just as the sofa disappeared, and they landed on the floor in a tangle of limbs, the air driven out of him with Rose's weight.

"What the..." gasped Rose, rolling off him and getting to her knees as she looked around her in puzzlement. Their lovely, cosy room was gone, replaced by a stark white circular room. No fireplace, no wooden floor, no bookshelves – and definitely no comfy sofa. Just white walls, ceiling and floor, a bright white light, and ... a yellow, flashing sign above the door that read EXIT.

Scorpius sat up with a groan, rubbing the back of his head which had met solid ground with a thump.

"Oh crap, Scorpius, are you OK?"

"Yeah, I'm fine – just confused. What the hell happened?"

"I don't know... things seemed fine until..." and Rose blushed, clearly remembering what had happened between them just before everything disappeared.

Scorpius got to his feet and held out his hand to her to help her out. Together, they stared around, mystified.

"I wonder ," said Rose thoughtfully, "if the Room hasn't got a PG rating on it."

And the walls flickered again, and there was a ghost image of bookshelves and a hint of red firelight, and then it was gone.

"Yeah, you might be right," said Scorpius, holding on to her hand and looking around. "I mean, if the Founders made sure that boys can't get into the girls dormitories by turning their staircases into slides, I suppose they thought of this too. They would have guessed that students might try to use this for, er..."

"...less innocent purposes," finished Rose, starting to laugh. "Wow – that is so clever."

"But inconvenient," grumbled Scorpius. "What – is that it? No more study sessions for us in here?"

"I think maybe if we keep it for studying ... and maybe a bit of light snogging, it didn't seem to mind that... we should be OK," suggested Rose. "What about it, Room? What if we promise to be good?"

This time, the walls almost returned to their former selves, with clear outlines of the books on the shelves, and the sofa almost solid enough to touch, before returning to a blank canvas.

"We promise, OK?" Scorpius said loudly, letting go of Rose and turning around with his arms held out. "We'll behave ourselves... in here." He winked at Rose.

There was a moment of pressure on his eardrums, like descending on a broomstick too fast, and then the room reformed as their study place. Scorpius let out a sigh of relief and pulled Rose into a hug.

"So," she breathed in his ear, making all the hairs on his arms stand up," it seems we can do this..." she brushed her lips against his; "and this..." and she kissed him more deeply, sucking his tongue into her mouth. He lost track of all thought for a minute.

"But not this," whispered Scorpius, running his hands up her back under the jumper while he kissed her neck, and the Room flickered ominously like a distant rumble of thunder.

"OK, OK, I get it," grumbled Scorpius, putting his hands demurely on Rose's waist over her clothes. "Keep your hair on."

He leaned his forehead against hers. "Maybe this is a good thing," he said softly. "I don't want us to go too fast – you're special to me, I don't want to ruin this."

Rose smiled at him and wound her arms around his waist. "Me either, and just imagine all the fun we'll have finding other places," she said wickedly. "Especially ones where my family can't find us."

"Oh, God. I'm square with Albus, but am I going to get thumped by all the others?"

"What do you mean, you're square with Albus?"

"He kind of gave me the big brother talk yesterday."

Rose started laughing. "Really? He tried to do that for Lily once and she hexed the crap out of him." She snuggled her head under his chin. "Don't worry – they're more scared of me than they are of him – I'll sort it out."

They spent the next few hours on the sofa, talking and kissing softly, never pushing the Room's limitations too far. Eventually, Rose stood and held out her hand to him. "This has been wonderful, but I don't want to spoil the night by being out after curfew and getting detention," she said. "We'd better be getting back."

Scorpius heaved a regretful sigh as he got to his feet, and took her hand as they left the Room. The walk to Gryffindor Tower seemed too short – he wanted to hold onto her all night. She turned to face him when they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, and slid her arms around him as she leaned her cheek against his shoulder. He held her tight to him, and as she turned her face up for a kiss, an irritable voice broke through.

"All right, you two, that's enough. Drop him, Miss Weasley, or I shall report you to Professor Longbottom," said the Fat Lady sternly. "And off you go, blondie, back to whichever House you're from. It's nearly curfew."

"But..." protested Rose.

"But nothing. Bloody students, waking me up all hours of the night to get in, and then expecting me to hang around, watching disgraceful displays of public affection. Off with you, boy! " complained the portrait.

Rose rolled her eyes. "Sorry, she's obviously been at the mead with her friends and has a hangover again," she whispered to Scorpius. "She does blab to Uncle Neville though – you'd better go."

Ignoring the increasing volume of the grumbling portrait, Scorpius pulled Rose towards him and kissed her deeply. "See you tomorrow," he said, before releasing her and walking backwards to watch her as he went. He saw her give the password, and as the entrance of the Tower opened, she went inside, throwing him a dazzling smile as she went.

Scorpius finally turned and walked off, hands in his pockets, and whistling under his breath. Hands down, the best night of his life. Now, he just needed to deal with his father, and prepare himself to handle a horde of Weasleys and Potters.

Rose wandered into the common-room, resisting the urge to twirl around deliriously. The room seemed deserted, as it was almost curfew and most of the students would be in bed already. Moving quietly towards the staircase to the dorm, she was distracted by movement and a soft murmur from a dark corner, which contained a large armchair partially turned towards the window. Guessing there was a couple back there that didn't want to be interrupted, she tiptoed towards the door, and then, curiosity getting the better of her, she glanced back.

There, entwined in the depths of the chair, were Beth and Albus. Snogging, like their lives depended on it.

Rose nearly dropped her wand in shock. She really hadn't seen that one coming – she thought Beth liked Mark Goldstein, and they certainly had been flirting up a storm recently. Frozen to the spot, she finally averted her eyes when she saw Beth shift to climb on Albus's lap, and she fled up the stairs. Oh yes, those two would have some explaining to do in the morning.

Once in her room, she thought of something important. There was no way she was going to be able to hide her relationship with Scorpius, because the chances of being able to keep her hands off him in public were zero to nil. Her cousins, not known for their discretion, would be all over this by lunchtime tomorrow. So, it was time to do the inevitable.

She took out some parchment and a quill, and got to work.

Dear Mum and Dad

Before you panic, there's nothing wrong – everything is fine. I just have some news for you, and I'd rather it came from me than from anyone else (and by that, I mean one of my lovely cousins, who seem to stalk me every waking hour and would love to be able to tell you this first).

Remember when I was younger, you told me that the reason you fought in the War (apart from getting rid of Voldemort, obviously) was so that we could live our lives free of prejudice? Well, I think I'm about to find out if you meant that ... and if it applies to purebloods too, not just Muggleborns.

Mum, you might want to make Dad sit down. NOW.

You see, I've started dating Scorpius Malfoy, and before you send a Howler, I'd like you to meet him and judge for yourselves. Scorpius might look like his father, but I think he's actually nothing like him at all. He's not even in Slytherin - he's a Ravenclaw. Even Albus and James like him, and you know they're both tough nuts to crack.

Just think, we might be able to mend some bridges with this – maybe we can invite the Malfoys over for Christmas dinner?

Dad, if you're hyperventilating at this point, a good shot of Firewhiskey might sort you out.

Love you both,

Rosie