A/N: I have never written slash before and I have never been inclined to put Scorpius in a relationship with anyone other than Rose but when the round came up saying write what you want and I started typing a fic that would have Scorpius eventually come and tell Rose that he loved her and he was just shocked it wasn't Scorpius that found Rose in the woods it was Albus and well the rest just sort of flowed along afterwards. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise
Humiliated
It was a wild and stupid thing to do and Rose knew this but as she stood in the hallway across from Scorpius it had just slipped out. She had never meant to tell him, she had never expected her mouth and heart to so betray her head but they had. It was done and the two seventh year students stared at each other surrounded by a crowd of shocked teenagers that would soon burst into gossip.
He wasn't saying anything. No sound came from his mouth and he hadn't even opened his mouth in an attempt to reply to her. Rose felt the sick feeling of cold rejection creep its way up through her, starting in her stomach until it curled around her hammering heart, knocked sickness into her throat and pricked tears in the corners of her eyes.
She could only see shock, confusion and pity in his eyes as he looked at her and she couldn't take it for a moment longer. She had ruined everything, not only her chances at happiness but also one of the dearest friends she had ever had.
Rose broke the spell before he could find the words to tell her how sorry he was that he couldn't love her back. Before the whole school was witness to the most humiliating moment of her life. They would talk about how stupid and hot headed she was, a typical Weasley, and how kind Scorpius had been to let her down so gently.
She fled.
The silent crowd parted for her like the red sea as she rushed from the scene and as she rounded the first corner the roar of gossip followed her as the silent crowd became alive. The tale would be around the whole castle within seconds, how was she ever going to show her face.
Now, hours later, she was sat cold and alone in a small glade on the outskirts of the forbidden forest. Her tears of mortification and self-loathing had dried long ago and she now just stared into space wondering what her life might have been like if she hadn't decided to tell Scorpius Malfoy that she loved him.
At least her father wouldn't have to disown her anymore, she thought dryly of how pleased he would be especially now that their friendship was also over. It had always been a sore point for her father and now he wouldn't need her mother to keep him in check. There was no need anymore.
"Rose?"
She sighed as her heart lurched and she buried her head in her bent knees to hide the fresh tears that sprung to her eyes as she choked on her own dry throat. "Albus," she said not bothering to look up.
The bark beside her scraped as her cousin slid down the tree to sit beside her on the cold ground, his warmth burnt through her clothes and she resisted the urge to shift away, wallowing in her own self-pity. He reached out a hand and rested it gently on her own and Rose was both comforted and frustrated by the pity that she felt radiating from her.
"This is all my fault," he sighed and for a second Rose was confused, how could it possibly have anything to do with him. The only person she had ever told of her feelings for Scorpius Malfoy was Dominique. Her older cousin had seemed the perfect person to go to for advice, heartbreaker that she was, although clearly her advice had backfired rather spectacularly.
"What on earth are you on about?" she scoffed lifting her head and regarding him with red rimmed eyes and tear stained cheeks. The sight of her obviously tortured face seemed to make Albus feel worse as his own face crumpled with guilt.
"I knew, I knew how you felt for him Rose and still I let this go on, I didn't say anything. I kidded myself time and again that it was a crush, you would get over it and no one needed to get hurt. I should have known that you would do something about it, you were always a dramatic one Rosie and I did nothing to protect you." He looked back at her tears and hope shining in those green eyes. "I'm sorry."
"Sorry?" Rose sat up straighter a new feeling all together creeping up her throat as she turned to her favourite cousin and realised that he had been hiding something from her. "What did you know Albus, what are you sorry for?"
Her cousin blushed, something that Rose had never seen him do since they were children, and refused to meet her eye. Rose grew impatient as he stuttered and hummed trying to find the right words to say before finally demanding that he just spit it out already.
"He- he's gay Rose," Albus finally said, "and, and we're sort of together."
There was more that he said but Rose didn't hear a word of it as the emotions flickered through her faster than she could keep up with. Understand, hurt, anger, betrayal. She looked at the small boy beside her as he babbled reasons why he hadn't told her. Not only that he was gay but that he and her best friend were an item. Not only was it a secret, something she thought they didn't have with each other, but this withheld information had led to her school wide humiliation.
"How could you?" she breathed interrupting his nervous tirade.
"Rose I'm sorry we thought-"
"No! Obviously you didn't think. Neither of you did or you would have told me. I would have been happy for you both, I would have understood instead of wasting three years of my life pining after a relationship that could never be. Don't talk to me."
Albus called after her as she stormed off through the trees back to the castle but it was useless. She wasn't coming back.
"Hey, it's okay. You know what she's like, that famous Weasley temper after all. She'll come around."
Albus leant into the arm that Scorpius had slung around his shoulder taking some small comfort in his presence alone.
"I hope you're right."
Yeah I don't really know where that came from either.
GryffinRAWR
