Rose Weasley nervously walked through the halls of Hogwarts. It had only been a month since she and Scorpius Malfoy had started to date. The two had finally ended with those ridiculous fights and admitted their love for each other.
But Scorpius did not want to take their romance to the public; because he said that it will shock and hurt a lot of people especially his father, Draco Malfoy, and Rose's father, Ronald Weasley. The girl did not care for the labor of keeping everything a secret at first, because she loved him too much.
She knew though, or at least thought, that one day the two would finally have a date.
She was wrong.
Every time Rose tried to talk to her boyfriend about it, he would change the subject or pretended not to hear. The discussion would be over before it had even started, and she didn't want to have to put up with it anymore.
Rose was sick and tired of it. She was tired of being treated like just a friend of Scorpius', or worse, a complete unknown. She was tired of pretending not to care about all those girls hitting on her boyfriend. She was tired of him not pushing them away like any good boyfriend, only flirting with them too. He said it was to keep up pretences, but Rose didn't know if she wanted to do it anymore. Rose Weasley was tired of being quiet while Scorpius played her heart as a game, and now she was breaking all because of him.
"Scorpius!" She called out as she saw the boy conversing with his best friend, Matthew Zabini - probably talking about Quidditch. He glanced over and he looked slightly guilty as he brushed her off. Not guilty enough though, she thought.
"I'm busy now, Weasley, I'll talk to you later." The boy said coldly without even bothering to look at his girlfriend. Rose was crushed. She knew that Zabini didn't know, and that he wanted to keep it that way, but he was so harsh. Where was the boy she had fallen for?
Rose held the tears back and insisted to herself that she did not want to do that, but the girl inside didn't listen, and the tears streaked down her face as she hastily wiped them away. She knew that her eyes would be red, but at that moment, she didn't care.
Rose didn't recognize Scorpius; he was no longer the boy who had said that he had fallen in love with Rose. She did not want to suffer anymore. Rose Weasley promised herself she was not going to suffer for him. Not another boy. Inside, she knew that she had been wrong to trust another boy. The male species was all hopeless.
"It's important." She said it loudly without budging, making Scorpius turn around to face the girl. As soon as he saw those delicate blue eyes now covered in tears, the boy quickly began to worry about his girlfriend. If he knew who had done this to her would give them a punch, that bastard. Who had done this to his lovely girlfriend? Was it her ex? He gestured for Zabini to continue without him.
Rose saw the worried look on Scorpius' face when he saw her, but she couldn't back down now. She had to be strong. She'd already lost almost all hope that he would change.
The girl turned and walked toward the empty classroom nearby, knowing that he was curious now. Scorpius followed, still intrigued to find out what might have happened to his girlfriend. She shut the door behind her and turned around to face him, bracing herself for the scene that was about to unfold.
The young Weasley couldn't stop the tears streaking down her face. She knew what she had to do now. Scorpius hesitantly approached and reached out his hand to wipe away the tears that kept falling, but as soon as his hand touched her skin, Rose dodged out of the way and took a large step away from her boyfriend. Scorpius frowned; he had never seen her this upset before.
"What happened, Ro?" she grimaced at the nickname he'd given her. It had seemed sweet at the time, but now it just seemed stupid and silly. "Who did this to you?" Asked the boy concerned, as he hated seeing any girls crying especially when that girl was his girlfriend. That was why he could never reject a girl when they flirted with him in case that happened. He just didn't have the heart to be that mean.
"Yo-you." She said between sobs without facing the boy. Scorpius looked at her with a mixture of worry, doubt and confusion.
"How Rosie? I love you and would never do anything to hurt you." He said, taking the girl's face in his hand so that she looked in his eyes. She looked into his bright silvery blue eyes that were sparkling with true honesty.
He seemed so sincere. And Rose, for a minute, thought that she was being silly and should apologize to him for being behaving like an idiot. She wasn't sure whether to believe him or not, but then she remembered the way he had treated a few minutes ago while talking to his friend.
She would be strong. She would say everything she felt.
No Scorpius."She took a deep breath before continuing. "Do not say you love me, because I know that's not true."
"Of course it's true!" Protested the boy, who was now beginning to understand where this conversation was going."Why would I date you if I didn't love you?" he asked, but all too soon he knew the obvious answer, and tried to correct his mistake, but it was too late.
If you loved me, you would let other people know. You're ashamed of me. You just use me for kisses. I don't know much about our relationship anymore, but I do know that you do not love me, not because if you loved me, you wouldn't be ashamed of me being your girlfriend."
"Rose, I'm not ashamed about dating you, I just don't think this is the time yet." Scorpius explained earnestly.
"So tell me Scorpius, when will be the time?"Rose asked, her hand on her hip even though she was doing that hardest thing that she had ever had to do. The boy was silent, not knowing what to say. She had never asked this before and he didn't know what to say. He had honestly never thought about it before.
"Now, here, you seem to care about me and what I feel, but in front of your friends or anyone here at Hogwarts, you ignore me as if it were disgraceful to talk to me."
"But ... Rose-"he protested as he tried to speak, but the girl interrupted.
"Please Scorpius, it's been stuck in my throat for a long time, but I've never had the courage to speak before." she began, letting more tears cascade down her face. "And finally, I've had the courage to say that I do not want to have to hide what I feel for you, I do not want to have to look at you talking to those girls who are hitting on you, and I cannot stand to pretend not to care about that . But the truth is that you do not care about what I feel, just pretend that you care. Please stop pretending, because it's hurting me."
Once the girl finished speaking she looked at her boyfriend who stood without reaction over what she had said.
"You used me." She whispered, before she turned around and walked out the door of the room.
She felt sad to have finished with the only boy who had ever loved her before, but now she knew that he didn't really feel that way. She realized that she was relieved to know that part of the pain she felt was past – he wouldn't hurt her again by flirting in front of her or ignoring her. But now knowing that she'd suffered so much, she would never let herself get hurt by a boy again.
Rose lay on her bed and cried. She couldn't believe what he had done. Not minutes after she had broken up with him, she had walked back to the library to get a book and saw him flirting with another girl outside. Even though she hadn't actually heard the words, she could guess exactly what they were saying. Rose hadn't even ventured past to get the book, just darting around the corner back up to her dormitory. She knew that she could never trust him – no one should ever trust a Slytherin. She should have listened to her dad on her first day of school.
She could still hear his words echoing through her head.
"So that's little Scorpius," her dad had said under his breath. "Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie. Thank God you inherited your mother's brains."
"Ron, for heaven's sake," her mum said, half stern, half amused. "Don't try to turn them against each other before they've even started school!"
"You're right, sorry," her dad said, but unable to help himself, he added, "Don't get too friendly with him, though, Rosie. Granddad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pureblood."
Why didn't she listen to him?
Still, she was finding it hard to go from one minute having practically no doubts about her boyfriend, to the next minute being full of them and breaking up with him. She'd thought that she would be feeling unpressured and happy after ending things with Scorpius, but all she could feel was the sadness and loneliness.
Her best friend Soyne Longbottom entered the room carrying a box and smiling; probably something her long-term boyfriend Albus had given her. She walked with a beam on her face, saying something about how her boyfriend was so sweet. Rose thought that her cousin was a great guy, but she just didn't want to hear anything to do with boys right then.
The cheerful smile on Soyne's face evaporated as soon as she saw her best friend lying on her bed trying to cover up her sobs.
"What happened?" Soyne asked worriedly, sitting next to Rose on her bed. Rose sat up on the bed and tried to dry the tears, but it didn't work.
Rose told her best friend all that had happened. Soyne opened her box and put the small scrapbook on her desk, before reaching over and pulling the tissue box over.
Soyne didn't say anything, just sat there gently rocking her heartbroken best friend back and forth as they both munched on the sugar quills that were also gifts from Albus. Sitting there, doing that, Rose noticed that Scorpius had never given her gifts.
"After so much sugar, I need something savory in my mouth!" Rose said as she and her Soyne chucked their empty sweet boxes aside. "I have no idea how I managed to eat so many sweets at once." She giggled.
Soyne laughed, happy to see that her friend seemed much better now.
"So why not take a shower and then come down to eat a pizza rom the kitchens with us?" Soyne suggested. The common room wouldn't be that full anyway, as the OWLs and NEWTs were coming up – the common room was too noisy for study. Rose agreed and headed toward the bathroom.
It was only when she got into the shower did she remember why she had eaten all the sweets. Soyne had worked magic and helped her to forget about Scorpius, but now, on her own in the shower, did it all come flooding back to her. Her thoughts turned to a certain blonde haired boy with blue eyes that resembled gray ice and who had the most beautiful smile that Rose had ever seen.
She remembered him smile when she kissed him the first time. His face had been a mask of pure joy, and he had a big smile on the lips that only grew wider. Now it was Rose who smiled remembering that day, but the smile soon disappeared when she realized the damage Scorpius had done to her. His easy smile would make many other girls fall harder for him and he would crush them too. Or maybe it was just her. It would be another girl who was not her. It was only thinking about this that Rose's heart ached, but she had to be strong now.
She finished her shower and pulled on a pair of comfy jeans and an old jumper. She might as well be sloppy anyway – it wasn't as if anyone she cared about would see her. Soyne was waiting for her in the common room like she'd said she had.
"Sorry Rose! The house-elves say that they've run out of pizzas as it's for the dinner tonight." Rose's heart fell a little more. She had really been hoping for a night where she could just chat with her mates, but now she could see that she wouldn't be able to get that. Seeing her expression, Soyne added on, "But we'll be a quick as possible." She reassured. Rose sighed but joined her friends as they walked out of the common room and along to the Great Hall. She was a Weasley after all – she couldn't miss a meal!
Albus, Rose's cousin, was already there waiting for Soyne, and the two shared a quick but sweet kiss before they sat down again next to each over. Soyne and her boyfriend had kissed oblivious to the fact that his mouth was smeared with tomato sauce. That was cute and disgusting at the same time.
Rose felt a twinge of envy at how many times she had wanted to kiss Scorpius like that in public, without others judging them. Suddenly, she regretted her decision to break up with Scorpius. He had been a great boyfriend to her, and she realized, deep down, that she hadn't been ready for a public relationship until that second. Then, she knew that she had split up with Scorpius for no valid reason. She felt horrible.
She was about to sit in front of her friend and cousin when she heard a voice that made her both freeze and happy.
"Excuse me Professor." his voice echoed through the hall. He was speaking to the gimlet-eyed witch that was the headmistress of the school. It seemed very odd that a student would speak up like that in a meal, right before the head was about to make one of her famous, long, uninterrupted, but Scorpius had intercepted her before she had even begun talking. She sighed and gestured for him to carry on.
"Yes, Mr. Malfoy?" she asked.
"I have something really important to say. Please? He asked. The headmistress seemed to be making the decision and the rest of the school held their breath. This was drama; this was dinnertime entertainment this was.
"Be quick." She allowed, and moved back to sit in her place at the middle of the staff's table.
"A few years ago I met this girl."Scorpius began. Rose had sat down while he was talking, and now she wasn't sure what to think. Who was he talking about? The hall seemed to whisper. Half of the girls in the room seemed to think that it was for them and let out sighs – even the first years.
"At first I hated her. I hated the way that she was better than me in everything, and didn't seem to try. I hated that she was so confident and didn't notice me like everyone else. I hated the way that she was a brilliant chaser, and I hadn't made the team until a year after she did. I hated that she crushed me in my first match against them. After a while though, I began to see these things in a different way.
Instead of her being a know-it-all, she became competition and intelligent girl. Instead of caring that she didn't notice me, I tried talking to her and it worked. Instead of being upset when she was better than me, I realized that she had never gloated, only praised me. Whenever I saw her, I started to get sad if she ignored me. I began to hate it, hated the effect she had on me.
When I finally realized that I loved her it was too late because she was with someone else, someone awful for her." Rose sat still. Was he talking about her? "I tried to forget her and my feelings, but I just could not. If anything, they got stronger. "Rose let a tear escape her nonchalant mask, but this time it was happiness." When it finally ended with the idiot she called her boyfriend, I wasted no time and told her exactly how I felt. I said how much I'd loved her and she kissed me right then and there. It certainly was the best kiss of my life. I did not let others know that we were dating because I was afraid of what others would think of us.
I was so stupid; I flirted with other girls right in front of her just to keep up the pretence. I didn't have the heart to turn them away. I was an idiot and was horrible to her in front of other people, just so they didn't assume things. Now that she's left me, I realize what a plonker I was, I saw how I was no better than her ex." He glared at a boy across the room and then began to walk towards Rose. All watchers returned their gazes to the girl. "Rose Weasley-I love you and I'm so so a million times sorry; will you forgive me for being such a jerk?"
The girl didn't answer; just staying silent as she slowly stood up from her seat and walked over to him. Everyone is in suspense – was she going to kiss him or hit him? Their questions were answered as she reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck as she kissed him, and the Great hall erupted into applause.