This is a Lust, Love, and Heartbreak Side-fic, but you do not have to have read the original fanfiction to understand where this is coming from. The important stuff for this is that Scorpius dated Rose, proposed to her, got turned down, and they broke up. Now, Scorpius is dating his little sister's best friend, Olivia Zabini. This is how they got together, and a bit of their relationship after that.

To those of you who wanted the story from the P.O.V of different purebloods, that is coming soon, I promise. I'm going to work on this and The End of Us for a bit though. :)

Scorpius sat outside the Malfoy Manor, looking onto the gardens in the backyard. Every twinkling light strung up trees seemed to mock him. He pulled his jacket tighter around him, serving as a buffer against the frigid wind. He squinted slightly, snowflakes getting caught in his light eyelashes. He closed his eyes altogether. Everything seemed like such a joke now. His upbringing, his life, love.

Scorpius had been raised to marry early and have kids. It had been an ideal passed on through generations and generations of purebloods. His parents didn't care if he married a Muggleborn or not, he could do what he wanted, but in his head Scorpius always imagined starting a family in his early twenties.

And he had found the one. The woman that set his life on fire, colored everything in more vibrant hues than he had ever seen the world in. They had been in love. And so, three nights ago, on Christmas Eve, he had asked her to marry him.

She had said no.

Rose Weasley had turned him down. She claimed that she truly loved him, but she wanted to pursue a career as an Auror and didn't want to be tied down by a family yet. That was what Scorpius was to her. A weight, keeping her from her true potential. At least, that was how Scorpius had taken it. She had asked him to wait a five or eight years or so. Scorpius had shaken his head and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

They were at different places in their life, and they had to accept that. There had been a tearful goodbye on both parts, though Scorpius might have pretended that a piece of dust was in his eyes. She had smiled fondly and embraced him once more before leaving the Manor.

And now he sat, practically brooding across the grounds. Merlin, how had this even happened.

"Hi, there," a quiet voice greeted from just a bit behind him.

"Hey, Liv," he muttered. "Aren't you supposed to be inside helping Arianna plan the wedding?" he asked. His little sister's life was working out just fine. She was engaged to her long-time boyfriend, and was pretty much glowing at the knowledge that she would soon be a Potter.

"I suppose so," Olivia, the maid of honor, and even longer time best friend of the bride nodded, chewing on her lip slightly. "It's just that ever since Hugo dumped me, I-I don't begrudge, Ari, of course," she added hastily.

"But you don't want to have to act happy all the time?" Scorpius suggested.

"It just hurts a bit still, I mean, it's only been about a week since it happened," Olivia pointed out, shrugging slightly. "Everything kind of went in a different direction at once, didn't it?"

"Yeah," Scorpius agreed absently, not really paying the girl much attention. Though he was only a year her senior, he had always lumped her in with his little sister, even though she was a grown woman of twenty one now.

"I mean, Hugo broke up with me, you and Rose split, and-"

"And Ari got engaged," Scorpius supplied. "I think my mum was disappointed I wasn't," he finally added with a slight, albeit grudging, laugh.

"Astoria is..." Olivia trailed off, searching for the right word. "Easily excitable," she finally decided, trying to tread lightly about his mother, a woman that Olivia was pretty genuinely fond of, but that wasn't without her flaws.

"When Rose and I were dating, it had only been a while, and I introduced her, and my mother starts talking about what beautiful children we'd make," Scorpius chuckled.

"I bet sex was awkward the next few times," Olivia noted.

"You have no idea," Scorpius agreed, rolling his eyes in exasperation. He looked over at her after another moment.

"I still haven't worked out why Hugo broke up with you," he admitted after a questioning glance from her.

"He said he didn't want to commit without knowing if there was something...else out there," she said, gesturing vaguely. "I miss him so much," she murmured. She made to stand up, surprised when Scorpius mimicked her actions, and then pulled her into a hug, crushing her against him.

"Sorry you're hurt," Scorpius murmured, not really paying attention to his own actions, rubbing her arm lightly.

"You too," Olivia mumbled. "I'd better go pick out dresses with your sister before she gets to be in a bad mood," she laughed a bit awkwardly, pulling away from the hug, though it had, truthfully, felt pretty nice. "Let me know, if you need someone to talk to about all of it," Olivia said, hesitating at the back door to throw Scorpius a slight smile.

"You too," Scorpius nodded, going back to looking out at the grounds.

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Cunning and Ambition

Okay, so this fic is going to go either of two ways. For those of you who read LLH, Scorpius and Olivia end up together, but I haven't decided if it's going to actually work out or not. There will definitely be some RoseXScorpius action going on as well.