If I'm Dying, We're Dying, You're Dying!
AN: I have been wanting to write something lately, and recently got an email from F.W.C. Fanfiction Writing Challenges, letting me know about a 12 Day writing challenge with prompts that was coming in December, but as it is currently the beginning of November, I decided to jump start and see how well I wrote with prompts as I've never done it before.
Thanks to my sister mhmellie for "beta-ing" this for me! Pretty great when you find a beta living next door! Haha! :]]
I was excited that these prompts actually struck a chord in me and I wrote this in basically one sitting. Please enjoy and let me know what you think. Prompts located at the end of the story.
"Rose you look horrible, what happened, are you hurt?" Al demanded, panic in his voice, as he looked down at his cousin where she sat in the winged arm chair, in the common room. He could see why Lily had been worried and come to get him; she was staring into the fire place, her face devoid of emotion.
"It's just a flesh wound," Rose heard herself say, in a voice so far from her usually quick-witted sharp tongue as she tried to minimize the pain she was in; the memory of it, of the event coming to the forefront of her mind. "I can't love you anymore, because loving you, being with you is wrong, and I won't do it anymore..." That had been the killing blow, to know that he didn't want her anymore. Normally she'd be telling herself to take it like a man, to rub some dirt in it and deal. In this case though, all the previous suffering, would-be heart break, and pain... they were all ignorable cat scratches compared to the demolition job he'd just done to her heart.
"A flesh wound..." Al repeated sarcastically... "Yeah he's going to have a lot of those when I'm done."
Rose showed the first bit of emotion on her face at those words, the panic, and worry at the thought of Sc... him being hurt, hurt her. "Please don't Al, I am hurt... yes. That doesn't mean I want him hurt... I don't want him hurt..."
"Rose you know I'd die for you, I have to protect you." Al told her, hoping she would see he needed to do this.
"You can't protect me from this."
"Scorpius!" Al bellowed as he stormed up the Slytherin stair case. He slammed open the door to find him crying in their room, completely uncaring to what anyone else might hear, say or think. It brought him up short, of all things, and in all shapes he hadn't expected to find him this way.
"So what then, are you into sadomasochism? Because it seems you're hurting yourself as much as you're hurting her." Al sighed, plopping down next to his best friend. "I had whipped up a plan in my head that was going to leave you black and blue and in serious need of a hospital, if not a lifetime supply of bandages."
Scorpius looked at him, "No one is stopping you, don't protect me from what I deserve."
Scorpius knew that Al would come eventually, knew that he'd have to answer to him after his decision. Surprisingly it was something he was hoping would come sooner, rather than later. At least then he'd have a distraction from playing the worst moment of his life over and over again in his head.
"Scorpius, please don't do this, we're perfect together, we fit, and you promised. You promised you wouldn't do anything that would hurt me, well you're hurting me now. How can you want to break up? There must be a reason; there must be an explanation, because you don't just end something like what we have out of nowhere." Rose looked at him with the most heartbreaking eyes, as she begged him for an answer that he couldn't give.
'This hurts me more than it hurts you' Scorpius thought to himself, as he said the words he knew would make her let him go. "I can't love you anymore, loving you, being with you is wrong, and I won't do it anymore..."
If looks could kill, then the look in her eyes as she believed his lie, as she accepted that he was done with her, would have certainly killed him on the spot. Something he almost wished was possible.
He knew he was doing the right thing, he couldn't string her along, make her suffer in the long run by being the last one standing. Securing Rose from a lifetime of abandonment and loneliness was worth dying for, was worth more than anything in the world to him.
Thankfully Al chose that moment to come bursting into their room, unfortunately the yelling, the distraction he was hoping for never came. Even after he told Al he could follow through with any plan he might have in store for him.
"You're bleeding!" Al said, as he stared at Scorpius with wide eyes.
Scorpius sat up, rubbing away the blood that had begun to drip from his nose, "I fell down some stairs," he answered, knowing the second the words came out of his mouth that it was a lame excuse.
"You fell down some stairs," Al repeated skeptically, "and what? There was a delayed reaction in bruising and bleeding?"
"It's not important, what are you going to do, kiss it better?" Scorpius responded sharply, turning away from his friend, hoping he would let this go. Maybe he didn't want a distraction from his heartache after all. It was the only reminder he had now that their love was real.
Al stared at Scorpius' back, as he contemplated his next move. His friend seemed determined to go down in flames, but the reason as to why was confusing him. Why would he throw away what he'd only a week ago, claimed was the most important thing in his life?
"Scorpius," Al said, his voice serious, "What happened? Why are you hurting yourself? Why?"
He didn't answer right away, but when his shoulders began shaking Al knew he was crying again. Whatever the reason was for this whole mess, Albus knew it must be huge.
"I have... I just found out I have an infection in my heart that can't be treated, and it's going to cause my heart to fail. I'm going to die." Scorpius told him, his voice hoarse, "They can't tell me when exactly it's going to happen, but they did say it would be within the year. I couldn't put Rose through losing me that way. This way, she'll get over me in time, maybe move on, and when I die, I'll just be a former love, instead of her whole world. It was better to accept defeat than to be selfish and drag her through this."
Al and Scorpius sat in silence after that for a long while, both reeling from the tragedy of it all.
Al made his way through the library as he searched for Rose, and found her sitting on the floor, against the wall of the last row of shelves at the very back. When he rounded the corner she looked up, shocked to see someone this far back into the library.
He walked over to her, before settling himself next to her, and wrapping and arm around her waist pulling her close. "Let me see your scars," Al whispered, as she rested her head against his shoulder. This was a catch phrase they'd been using since they were children, it was their way of asking the other person to share the pain they were feeling, a way of letting them know they weren't alone.
"This is the worst I've ever felt Al, like I may never recover from losing him. I feel like he's killed me, like he's taken my very life force with an expertly executed assassination on my heart. These tears feel like bloodstains, like they are going to be forever imprinted on my face for the world to see how broken I am." Rose told him, and he felt the very tear's she was speaking of, begin to soak his shirt.
He weighed his options here, did he tell her the truth, the reason behind these feelings. If he did, would it help her, or would it hurt her more to know that the man she loved was going to die. Was Scorpius right, or was Rose stronger than he was giving her credit for... it was too much... why were they dealing with this now? It was their last semester at Hogwarts, they were supposed to be having fun and enjoying life before they were dropped into the real world sometime after June.
He sighed as he came to a conclusion. He knew it was the right thing to do, and that it was the only way any of them stood a chance of not completely falling apart.
"I spoke with Scorpius," Al said, and he felt her tense, as she waited for him to continue, "He's going to feel like he was stabbed in the back after I tell you this, but I think you need to know. I think you're strong enough."
Rose hardly registered the time it took for her to get from the library to the Slytherin dormitories, thankfully there was a group heading in when she got down to the dungeons. She hurried in with them, and then sprinted up the staircase to Scorpius' room.
When she opened the door her was sitting up at the head of his bed. As their eyes connected she saw the tear stains that matched hers on his face.
"I think I knew if I told Al, even begging him to keep it a secret, that he would tell you." Scorpius sighed, looking defeated, "I think I knew..."
Rose shut the door behind her, and walked over to sit next to him on the bed. "I would rather spend every last second I had with you, giving you a reason and the will to live even knowing you'd die in the end; than to spend a lifetime believing your words as the heartbreak caused me to slowly die by your hand." Rose told him, slipping her fingers into his. "I can handle losing you, so long as I know you love me. I'm not saying it'll be easy but anything is better than the day I just had. I can't imagine spending forever feeling like I did today, can you?"
Scorpius shook his head, "I already have battle fatigue from the war that was taking place between my heart and my mind. I didn't want to leave you alone... now or later..."
"I don't want to live without you Scorpius, but I am prepared to live every last moment we have together to the fullest if you are. For all we know you may live long enough that a cure may become available before it's too late." Rose told him, her eyes pleading with him not to give up; to fight.
"Can you truly forgive me for lying to you the way I did, for hurting you?" Scorpius asked, not sure he even deserved that from her.
Rose smiled as she moved to wrap herself in his arms, "We will consider today a papercut on our hearts, it hurt when it happened, but we cleaned it up and protected it fast enough that it'll heal and there won't be any evidence that there was ever a cut at all."
"I love you, Rose." Scorpius said, his arms tightening their hold on her, and she smiled before returning the sentiment.
"I love you too."
"I may need to get after Al for spilling the beans, even if I am grateful, just for integrities sake, he did promise not to say a word." Scorpius told her, "Maybe a drunken brawl? What do you think?"
"I think if either of us is likely to get into a drunken brawl it probably is you, as we both know I can drink you under the table." Rose joked, already feeling them falling back into the happy place they'd been in before, even if it was a bit cloudy this time around.
She knew that they would heal from this, and she planned to do everything she could to make sure he was healed in the end too. She wasn't going to live in a world without Scorpius unless she'd given everything she had to prevent it.
End
AN: Yay! I am so proud of myself for using all of those prompts and actually using them in order which isn't as hard as it sounds, the story actually molded itself after I committed to using them in order.
Here are the prompts, I'm sure you'll recognize them and the story as you read over them. I am dying to know what stories other people come up with using the same prompts! Everyone's mind words differently so if you decided to write a story using them, let me know! I'd love to read it!
1. 'It's just a flesh wound' 2. Sharp tongue 3. Killing blow 4. Take it like a man 5. Catscratches 6. Die for you 7. Sadomasochism 8. Whipped 9. Black and blue 10. Hospital 11. Bandages 12. 'This hurts me more than it hurts you' 13. If looks could kill 14. Last one standing 15. Worth dying for 16. 'You're bleeding' 17. 'I fell down some stairs' 18. Kiss it better 19. Go down in flames 20. Infection 21. Accept defeat 22. Let me see your scars 23. Bloodstains 24. Stabbed in the back 25. Will to live 26. Die by your hand 27. Battle fatigue 28. Papercut 29. Drunken brawl 30. Heal
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