***UPDATED VERSION***
A/N: Wow, thanks for the flood of reviews! And here I was, thinking you would all hate me. 0:-)
I wanted to let jalapeno1011 know that I seriously considered your suggestion for this chapter, but in the end, it went a different direction.
Thank you once again to Ali, my lovely reviewer that always manages to put a big smile on my face. Also, thank you to everyone else! I feel bad for not mentioning anyone but Ali, so thank you to these people who have reviewed my story multiple times, and for continuing to read it:
.x
VeniVidiViciMR
Loslote
weasleytwins12
Converse101
and everyone else. :)
One of the Boys
Chapter Seven – Forgiving is Hard to Do
Tears flooded down Rose's cheeks as she stepped into the elevator. She cast a last look at Scorpius, who was going back into his mother's hospital room. On the ground floor, she hurried to the women's room and locked herself in a stall until she had cried herself out. She pulled some toilet paper off the roll and blew her nose loudly. She then mopped the excess tears off her face with her sleeve, and stepped out of the stall.
One look in the mirror told her that she was not a pretty sight. Her eyes were bloodshot and puffy, her cheeks covered in tear tracks. She sniffled, then splashed water on her face. It made her look a tiny bit better. She left the bathroom, and went over to the fireplace that held a cup of floo powder. Instead of returning to school, Rose said, "Diagon Alley!" and twisted and turned through the never-ending loop to the hidden alleyway. She wanted time to recover before she returned to school. Luckily, she had her own bank account now, and was able to retrieve some money from Gringotts.
With her money, she went and got a table at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. A young wizard, about nineteen, came and took her order. She asked for a cherry and chocolate sundae with extra whipped cream and nuts. The cup of vanilla ice cream came with equal amounts of cherry and chocolate syrup, and a mountain of whipped cream, with nuts dabbled all around. It was delicious, but not good enough to make her forget her heartache.
When she had finished eating, she felt recovered enough to return to Hogwarts – or as recovered as she was ever going to be. She pushed her chair back, got to her feet, and trudged to the nearest fireplace. With the floo powder, she transported herself back into McGonagall's office. Professor McGonagall looked up in surprise when Rose slid into the room.
"Miss Weasley, I expected you to be gone longer."
"Mrs. Malfoy was doing okay, so I decided to come back to class," Rose lied. She got the feeling that Professor McGonagall could tell she was lying, but the Headmistress didn't say anything. Rose slid past the teacher and hurried out of the office. When she was out in the hall, she wasn't sure what to do. She didn't even know what time it was. She wasn't wearing a watch. Instead of wandering around the school, she decided to go to the Ravenclaw tower. That would tell her what time it was and where she was suppose to be.
When she got to the common room, the position of the sun and the lack of people told her it was dinner time. Professor McGonagall must have been late leaving for dinner, which was why she had been in her office when Rose arrived. The ice cream had filled Rose up, and she wasn't in the mood for dinner. She climbed the stairs to her dormitory and fell into bed, still dressed in her jeans. She wondered if she should tell Albus about what had happened. After all, Draco had included him in the ban.
She dragged herself off her bed and changed into her pajamas, but didn't feel like going to find Albus. She didn't even feel like brushing her hair or teeth, so she fell back into bed, tired and worn out from all the crying she had done that day. Her eyes closed, and she fell into a less than peaceful sleep.
She woke the next morning feeling more exhausted than she had the night before. She looked over and saw Becky standing next to her bed. The other girl had obviously shaken her awake. "Thanks," Rose said, sitting up. Her head was pounding, but not from alcohol this time. Her throat felt raw and sore, and the room seemed to be overheated. She felt horrible. She knew she was sick, so she didn't even bother getting dressed.
"Can you tell Trewlaney I went to the Hospital Wing?" she asked Becky.
The ever-silent blonde girl nodded, and Rose left the dormitory. Most of the Ravenclaws were already at breakfast, so she only had to walk past two first year boys in her pajamas. The way to the Hospital Wing was silent. When she arrived, Madame Pomfrey took one look at her and put her to bed. Rose didn't complain, but spent the day drifting in and out of sleep.
The third time she woke up, Albus was grinning down at her. "Hey," he said.
"Hi," she croaked.
"How are you feeling?"
"Horrible," she answered. You don't know the half of it, she added silently to herself.
"We need to talk, Rose," Albus said. "Scorpius got back in time for-"
"Don't mention that jerk to me," Rose snapped, coughing as the air hit her scratchy throat.
"Look, the point is, he told me what happened."
"Everything?"
"Everything," Albus nodded. "You can't stay mad at him. You know exactly what Draco Malfoy is like. You honestly think that fighting with his dad would have done Scorpius any good? Because you know that it wouldn't have. What he did was the best thing; Now Draco doesn't have anything to be angry with Scorpius for."
"But-" Rose started.
"Don't argue," Albus answered. "You know it's true." His tone softened. "He loves you, Rose. He's told me too many times for my liking."
"Did everyone know but me?" Rose demanded in a hoarse tone.
"For the most part," Albus said with a shrug. "It was kind of obvious."
"Not to me it wasn't!"
"It was to the rest of the world," Albus muttered.
"Do you have anything else to say?" Rose asked. "Because I don't feel good, and I'd like to get some sleep. And tell Scorpius not to bother coming up here because I don't want to see him."
"Are you really mad at him?" Albus asked, looking a little surprised.
"Yes," Rose said. She was too embarrassed to tell Albus this, even though he was her cousin, but Scorpius's silence had pretty much torn her heart in two. Hearing what Albus had to say didn't make it much better. She hadn't been asking for him to have a full-out war with his father. He could have said something. Anything would have been better than the silence she had been treated to.
Rose rolled over to face the opposite side of the room, dismissing Albus. She listed to him sigh, then get up and leave the Hospital Wing. The arguing had worn her out, and she drifted off to sleep again. When she woke up, the orange glow coming from the windows told her it was dinner time. She didn't feel very hungry, but when Madame Pomfrey brought her a bowl of soup, she forced herself to eat it. After all, she hadn't had anything since the ice cream the day before. The soup made her feel sleepy, and the next thing she knew, it was morning.
Madame Pomfrey was hovering over her, a thermometer in hand. "Time to check your temperature," she said. She placed the glass stick under Rose's tongue, and they waited a few moments. When she took it back and checked it, she happily announced, "98.9. You'll be back to normal in no time."
"Thanks," Rose said. She glanced around and noticed a glass of water on her nightstand. She took it and drained the glass, then settled back against the pillows. Madame Pomfrey hadn't said anything about sending her back to class, so she was going to relax. She tried not to think about Scorpius, but she couldn't help it. Her thoughts went back to her conversation with Albus the day before. She still didn't want to see Scorpius. Her heart felt raw and she wasn't ready to forgive him. Sure, maybe she was being silly. But it was how she felt, and Rose couldn't change that.
She spent the rest of the afternoon doing homework that Becky had brought her and staring unhappily at the ceiling. She imagined what she would do if Scorpius came into the Hospital Wing. She'd ignore him, turn him away, smack him. The daydream changed each time she thought about it. But she knew what she would really do. She would melt in the palm of his hand, exactly like he wanted. She wasn't going to let that happen, and the best way to avoid this situation was to avoid Scorpius altogether.
That proved to be difficult. The following day, Wednesday, Rose was released from the Hospital Wing with a bill of health from Madame Pomfrey. She went to the Ravenclaw tower to get her book bag, and then followed the sea of students down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Instead of sitting at the Slytherin table like she was used to, Rose sat down awkwardly at the Ravenclaw table. She was almost happy when Ana joined her.
"I saw that you were alone, and...," Ana trailed off awkwardly. There was no need for her to voice what she was thinking. Rose knew. She was obviously in a fight with Scorpius, and since he and Albus were the only real friends she had, she was now alone. "Hey, why don't you eat at the Gryffindor table? With me and James? And the rest of your cousins?"
The thought hadn't occurred to Rose, but she liked that idea better than eating alone. She stood up and followed Ana over to the Gryffindor table where James, Lily, Lucy, Hugo, Roxanne, and Fred were seated. "Morning," she told them.
"Good morning," they chorused. She saw some looks exchanged between them, but they knew better than to ask her about Scorpius. While the rest of her family chattered through the breakfast hour, Rose was mostly silent, absorbed in her own thoughts. After a while, she noticed that her brother and cousins had fallen silent. She glanced up at them, and saw them staring at something over her shoulder. Rose twisted in her seat to see Scorpius standing awkwardly in the aisle. She also noticed that most of the Great Hall had fallen silent. Was she really a form of entertainment for them?
"Can I talk to you, Rose?" Scorpius asked quietly.
"No," Rose said, her voice equally low. "I don't want to talk to you again, ever." She grabbed her book bag and stormed out of the Great Hall. She was relieved when she looked over her shoulder and saw that Scorpius hadn't followed her. She turned down a rarely used hallway and slumped against the wall. Rose dissolved into tears, though she wasn't sure why. She knew Scorpius was trying to apologize.
What is wrong with me? Rose asked herself. She wiped her tears away, unable to figure out why she was crying. Because Scorpius had hurt her, and she still wasn't over it? I'm being stupid.
Rose gathered her book bag and went upstairs to the tower that her Divination class was located, waiting until the bell rang for the ladder to be lowered. When she and the other students climbed the ladder and began to take their seats, Rose hurried over to Becky. "Do you mind if I sit here today?"
Becky shook her head, and Rose sat down, relieved. Scorpius would have to work with whoever Becky's partner was. Scorpius came in just before the bell, and glanced around the classroom. His eyes met Rose's for a brief second, and when he realized that she had traded partners, he sat down across from Carmen.
The brunette looked surprised to see Scorpius as her partner, but immediately began twirling her hair and flashing him smiles. The green-eyed monster reared it's ugly head, but Rose pushed it back down. So Carmen was flirting with Scorpius. Big deal. But she knew that she cared, a lot. Class had barely begun, but Rose wanted to get out of there. "Professor?" she called.
"Yes?" Professor Trelawney asked.
"I'm still not feeling well. May I be excused, please?" Rose lied.
"I suppose," Trelawney said, pursing her lips, "But you have to remember to make up your homework."
"I will," Rose promised.
To Rose's horror, Professor Trelawney then said, "Mr. Malfoy, could you please walk Miss Weasley to the Hospital Wing?"
"Alright," Scorpius said, getting to his feet. Rose stood up as well, refusing to meet his eyes. They climbed down the ladder, and began descending the staircases.
"You don't have to walk me," Rose said after a moment. "I know how to get to the Hospital Wing."
"You're not going to the Hospital Wing," Scorpius answered. "I know you. You're running away from me."
"What makes you think you're so special?" Rose asked, a flash of anger rising inside her.
"Because if you didn't like me, you wouldn't be so upset with me."
Rose had no response for that.
Scorpius grabbed her hand and pulled her around to face him. "I love you, Rose. I really do."
Rose raised her eyes cautiously, bracing herself for the grey gaze she knew all too well. He was smiling at her, his eyes bright, and Rose melted, just like she knew she would. "I love you, too."
"That's all I wanted to hear," Scorpius murmured, brushing Rose's hair back. Her face burned where his hand touched, and her heart was beating wildly. Without hesitating, she stood up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips against Scorpius's, their first real kiss. It was everything she had always imagined, and more.
"You want to skip class?" Scorpius asked, wrapping his arms around her.
"Duh."
A/N: Note that this is an updated version of the original chapter (even if it's only four or five lines). If you've already reviewed Chapter 7, you won't be able to again. If you really want, feel free to PM me. Otherwise, don't worry about it. :)
