A/N: Written for Mad's (chasingafterstarlight) birthday! I hope you'll like this Mad! Thanks to mew (mew-tsubaki) for betareading!

forest of hearts

She tugged on the waistband on his jeans and he rolled his eyes. "What is it, Dom?"

"Come on, hurry!" she said with a laugh, and it sounded like raindrops, bouncing and somehow glittering. Or maybe it was her teeth that glittered. Scorpius really didn't know.

"Where are we going?"

"Exploring," Dominique explained and grabbed him by his hand instead.

"Because that is accurate," Scorpius said sarcastically, the warmth of her hand spreading through his body, the softness of her fingers against his skin being almost too soft, as if it would explode if they touched for too long.

"It is," Dominique stated as they had left the beach and stood in front of the forest. "Follow me!" She pushed aside some branches and dove inside.

Scorpius stayed motionless for a while, breathing in the fresh night air. They had just walked a few steps away, yet he could barely hear the others' laughs and screams, the laughs and screams of those who were still by the sea. It was some of Scorpius' classmates, some of Dominique's, and some others, all gathered to celebrate Albus' sixteenth birthday.

And, for once, it seemed that everyone had been enjoying themselves, Scorpius thought with a little smile. He, for once, had thought it really funny. And he figured it all was because he at the moment was neither in a relationship with Rose or in the awkward position right after one. They were just friends, and it felt so good, just like when they were younger and he and Albus and Rose were together with only the mission to save the world, or whatever it was you wanted when you were twelve years old.

"You're coming?" Dominique's voice, sounding very far, snapped Scorpius out of his fond thoughts. What was he doing, standing here being all nostalgic and sappy? He really had to focus, he couldn't let Dominique just walk into an unknown forest…sweet Merlin, what would all her cousins do to him then? He remembered how Albus' brother James and his cousin Louis had, er, talked to him when he had befriended Albus and Rose in his first year, to ensure he knew who he was dealing with if he tried anything. So he could imagine what they all would do to him if he returned to them without Dom…

"Where are you?" he shouted and ducked under a branch.

"Here!" Her voice came from somewhere to the right.

"Okay, stay there," Scorpius grunted as he had to push what felt like a whole tree aside to get past. The forest was really thick, and the dark made it almost impossible to see anything. But the dawn was close, so he knew it wouldn't be long until he could see more than a step in front of him.

He kept walking for a while, surprised by how far Dominique had gotten, and soon his eyes where used to the dark. The forest was beautiful, the dew had begun forming, and tiny drops hanged from every tree.

Finally he saw her. She sat on the ground by a little stream, her eyes stuck on a spider web, from which thousands of glimmering orbs hung, vibrating ever so slightly thanks to a soft wind.

"Aren't you getting wet?" Scorpius asked as he walked up to her. She looked somewhat like a creature from a fairytale, with her long silver blonde hair cascading down her back, and the thin, white, almost transparent dress she wore moving in the wind.

"I was already wet," she answered. "Don't you remember that Lorcan pushed me in the sea?" She smiled and turned to look at him.

"Oh, I had forgotten about that," Scorpius answered and sat down next to her.

"But now you're getting wet." Dominique looked down, with a crooked smile.

"Doesn't matter." They sat in silence for a while, Scorpius marveling over how quiet it was. Only small rustles and chirps were heard, and so seldom he almost forgot what sounds actually werein between. "You've been here often?" he asked at last.

"No. Never."

"What, you haven't?" Scorpius frowned. He had been certain she had; it seemed to him she had known exactly where she was going. But still, he had been to this beach probably as many times as her, and never before even thought about entering the forest.

She shook her head and smiled. Suddenly she leaned a bit closer, and whispered, almost breathed, in his ear, "Stay perfectly still."

Scorpius felt a chill running down his spine but did as he was told. She lifted her hand incredibly slowly and pointed to a little bit to the left of them. Scorpius narrowed his eyes. What did she me– Oh, yes. Almost hidden behind a bush, a doe stood, looking straight at them. The coldness made the doe's breathes come out as fog, the same with the body heat she exuded, making it look as though she had an aura around her.

"She's beautiful," Scorpius breathed out. Dominique nodded, slowly, and let her hand she had pointed with fall down, just as carefully, and it landed on Scorpius' knee.

Once again he shuddered. Her touch – it was so easy, but yet so firm. His eyes were still on the doe when she suddenly jolted and ran away with big, gracious jumps. Also, without a sound.

Scorpius felt a big grin spread on his lips, and he turned to Dominique. He was startled to see she was still so close to him.

He began, "That was s-," when she hushed him and put a finger on his mouth. He swallowed and, as though on an instinct, closed his eyes.

Then her lips met his, and, he wondered what he had been thinking about earlier when it was only her hand that touched his – this was what exploding felt like. She raised her hand from his knee and put it in his hair, and he grabbed her around her shoulder and pulled her closer.

It was so raw, this feeling, her fingers digging into his arm, her other fingers twisting in his hair, her lips moving against his.

He suddenly let go of her, pushed her a bit from him, since something had hit him.

"What?" she panted. "Oh, I'm sorry," she continued and bit her lip.

Scorpius furrowed his brow. "Don't be. I mean, wait."

She began smoothing out her dress. "I shouldn't have done that, I just thought…" She hesitated and gave him a faint smile, but something in her eyes wasn't there anymore.

"No, Dom, what I mean is… You really wanted to do that?" He felt so afraid all of a sudden.

Now Dominique frowned. "Why would I otherwise have done it? But, as you apparently didn't want me to, let's just forget about it."

"Wait, wait…" Scorpius understood nothing. His mind felt so dizzy, he had no idea what was going on. "You really wanted to kiss me?"

"Sure."

"Well, of course you wantedto, but Dom–"

She interrupted. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Scorpius shrugged. "Well, no offense, but there's a lot of people that would want to– "

"Come on, Scorpius, could you be more vain?" she interrupted again with a laugh, not strained at all, and causing the light to return to her eyes.

"It's true," he said, smirking for no more than a second, until the nervousness returned to him. "Anyway, Dom, you know me, and you still, er, like me?"

"You're stupid." Dominique was still giggling as she leaned back to him. "Why would I otherwise have kissed you?"

Scorpius smiled as he put his lips on hers again. He had no idea how all of this had happened; it felt as though he had dreamed is. But it actually didn't matter, because it felt so right.