A/N: And here I present the final chapter in this story. I never aimed for it to be long, and I never wanted it to go over 10 chapters, but after writing this chapter, I truly felt it was the 'finale'. So, to everyone who has favourited, saved, reviewed and read this story, thank you so much. Thank you for your kind words and for enjoying this little piece of happiness I wanted to write when inspiration hit. I've had a great time writing this, and though it has taken me a long time to get the chapters out, I'm glad that I was able to end this the way I've always wanted to end it. Hopefully, you will be somewhat satisfied with the ending, too.
I also want to thank my dear Janjan for reading through the story and reviewing the last chapter, to make sure it was up to a good standard before I posted it. You've been a great help, my darling, and I am forever in your debt (or at least, forever grateful). You have been such a great help, my love!
I also want to thank my darling Michi for always reading when she could, and cheering me on from the sidelines. Your encouragement made me want to keep on writing.
For my latest reviewers, Trinityblue76, LillyMay77, the two Guest reviewers, nobodysperfect2133 and Jrocknpoppingirl (or, Janjan XD), thank you for your reviews and kind words. I'm sorry I don't write longer chapters, but when I feel a chapter is done, I try not to push myself to write even more. I would lose my spark, otherwise. Hopefully, future stories will include longer chapters!
Thank you for reading, everyone! You make this fandom even more wonderful!
Disclaimer: I do not own pre-created characters from the wonderful J.K. Rowling, nor do I own the fantastic Wizarding world of Harry Potter that she has created. I do, however, own my own words, as well as the stories I spin, just like the other fabulous and talented writers here on FFNet. I am here to add my bit to the fandom, and keep it alive by spinning stories for a new generation of readers, writers and inspirers. I may not own this world, or its characters (unless otherwise stated), but I own the words I thread.
Further Disclaimer: The characters of Malcom Grieves and Vincent Liu are of my own creation.
Thank you once more, and finally, please enjoy the final chapter for Essence of Amortentia!
Sugar Quills
Like one of Grandpa Weasley's muggle contraptions, Rose's mind temporarily short-circuited, because Scorpius Twit-Face Malfoy (hey, that had a nice ring to it!) was kind of kissing her. Like, full on lips upon lips kissing. A lip sandwich, if you will.
Okay, she really hadn't thought up the term lip sandwich, had she? Wow, her brain was frazzling like her hair in humidity.
Crazy thing, though; she wasn't exactly pushing him back, either, and she was sure (in her semi-short-circuited state) that he was going a little bit deeper. Thank Godric, not tongue-in-mouth deep, like he was a quaffle going for the hoop. No, just… more. He was also holding her far too close to his own body than she should have liked, too.
And she wasn't going to stop him any time soon, either, not unless leaning in was somehow a deterrent. News flash: it wasn't.
Scorpius's lips were bloody soft, though. Did he use lip balm? He had to. And good Godric, had he been sucking on sugar quills before planting his mouth on hers? Had he planned this? If he had, Rose hoped he had more sugar quills handy for the next time they had a go at this kissing scenario, because his lips tasted quite yummy…
What in Godric's Hollow, Rose? Had her brain somehow apparated itself away, after Scorpius kissed her?
Yes. Yes, it had.
But, Merlin's Beard, if losing her brain for just a few seconds of whatever Scorpius was doing to her, well, it couldn't be so bad, could it? He was a damn good kisser, after all, and, bloody hell, Lily had been right. A practical approach was best, in this situation. Not that she would tell her that, of course.
Dear Godric, Rose hoped Lily wasn't a Legilimens, because if she was, then any second now, her cousins tiny head would pop out of the bush closest to her, kissing senses a-tingling, with self-cheering pom-poms on hand, for added affect. Rose would totally have to hex her, then.
Thankfully, Lily didn't jump out of a tree or come raging forward on the back of the Giant Squid, but something did eventually grab her attention that wasn't, ahem, attached to her mouth, because that's exactly what wasn't happening.
She was minus her lip sandwich, which had tasted of sugar quills. When in Salazar's dingy chamber had that happened?
Rose opened her eyes – wait, why had they closed? – and her cheeks went warm. Oh, she was going to look like a lobster, by the end of this, because dishevelled Malfoy was… well, he was yummy, like his lips. Had he always been this pretty?
"You," Was all she managed, but her brain was still apparating itself around Hogwarts, and she just stared at him, her cheeks getting hotter by the second. His damn hair was falling into his eyes again (but it looked good), and his shirt was all crumpled (wait, did she do that!?). Oh, and his lips looked a little swollen, as if…
Oh, Godric, no! Rose had nibbled his lips. Merlin's beard, she'd nibbled the prat's lips as he was kissing her, and she'd rumpled his clothes, to boot, as if they were having a broom closet fumble.
Oh, and of course the jerk was grinning, because that's all he ever did, aside from terrorise her and make life a living Hell.
But damn, he was one heck of a good kisser, despite Rose only having snogged one or two guys before this. Of course, Malfoy's were a lot more memorable. Hence why her brain was still short-circuiting, and she was continually saying 'You, you, you," to the Cheshire-smiled Malfoy.
"Are stunning? The perfect specimen of man? Everything the Amortentia ever promised you I would be?" Oh, yay, The Ravenclaw prat was back, and so was Rose's desire to smack that stupidly yummy grin off his twit-face.
And that's when Rose's brain came back from its unsolicited trip, though her stellar snap-back skills were still dancing around Honeydukes, because she only managed to squeak out a pathetic "You kissed me," which earned her a satisfied smile from the jerk. Rose didn't know if she wanted to hex him, or kiss him all over again.
Malfoy's smile only broadened, "Stellar observation there, Rosie. Now, if you'd observed as much in Astronomy, you might have passed with flying O's."
Rose glared at him, the best Grandma Weasley glare she could muster, and said "Go fly a car into the Whomping Willow, Malfoy," to which he laughed, because he probably thought she was just being cute, or some other bullshit stuff kissing fiends like Malfoy thought up. Hmph.
Rose would have gladly stormed off at that point, but Malfoy was kind of attached to her. As in, he had his hands planted firmly on her waist, a knee nice and secure atop one of her ankles, rendering her standing abilities almost useless. Well, she was in a pickle.
"You know, if I wanted to get tangled up in something, Malfoy, I would find myself a patch of Devil's Snare." She said, after a few attempts at trying to shuffle away from her newly acquired chain of Malfoy limbs. She swore his hands on her waist were suddenly gripping her a little tighter, and was that a foot that had made its way under a whole leg of hers?
"Now Rosie, you don't mean that. You can't kiss Devil's Snare."
"No, I can't, but it can strangle me, which seems so much more pleasing, at this point." Yep. She was lying, but twit-face didn't need to know that.
Malfoy cocked his head to the side, that little smile looking extra mischievous. Rose could feel his hands grip the back of her shirt as he pulled her closer towards him, not that there was much space between them to begin with. "Well, now you're just playing hard to get," he whispered, and before Rose could shriek like the shack on a full moon, the bloody twit was kissing her, again.
And Good Godric, he was just as good as the last time. No wonder Lily likes doing this kind of thing with all the boys, Rose thought, before pressing her lips back against Scorpius', clutching a bundle of Malfoy's shirt until she'd successfully creased it even more, like he was doing to hers that very second.
It didn't last long, but Rose knew she liked it, whatever Scorpius Malfoy was doing to her. He made her tummy twist, and she was blushing. Her brain was short-circuiting far too much, but she didn't care, because she, Rose Weasley, was starting to like the things that Scorpius Malfoy, Ravenclaw prat supreme, was doing.
And as if he were reading her mind, the blonde twit had to show off a dazzling smile, and asked her the worst kind of question; "How much do you like me now, Rose Weasley?"
x-x-x-x
She was going to kill Slughorn first, and then Lily. It had to be done, Rose told herself. After all, it was because of them that she was in this mess, in the first place. First, there was the Amortentia brew set by Slughorn, and then there was the 'practical' suggestion from Lily. If it wasn't for those two conspiring against her, Rose wouldn't be kissing Malfoy in broad daylight.
Urgh, if only she had a lack of a heart, then she would turn Slughorn into giant squid bait, and banish Lily to a life of spinsterhood.
Thinking about those two wasn't doing her any good, mind. No matter what, Rose went back to the idea of kissing Malfoy, and how much she enjoyed it. It was… well, it was new, that's what, and she didn't know what to think about it. Albus, however, had had a few choice words about the scene he had stumbled upon.
"Malfoy?You're going around kissing Malfoy?" Rose's dark haired cousin had practically wrenched her away from Malfoy, dragging her somewhere within Hogwarts until he was sure no one could hear him yell.
Everyone could hear him yell. Albus was a damn Howler, in the flesh.
"Well, not going around… we've only kissed on the grounds, thus far." Rose whispered, very sure that she'd gone pale. Albus, however, was red in the face. His pupils had dilated to saucers, and he was shaking. She knew he'd never really cared for Malfoy, but he'd not been as bad as she was.
So, this was also new.
"There's going to be more? Rose, what in Hogwarts' name…" He trailed off, and before Rose could think to stop him, Albus connected his fist with the wall. He didn't scream or yell, but he was left with a nasty scrape. For a while, Albus was quiet, and Rose couldn't find the words to try and ask him if he was okay.
Finally, he said, "You hate him, Rose. What the heck is going on?" Albus looked lost, then, the anger gone from his eyes and his face slowly paling, until he was back to his natural colour. The only remnant of his anger left was on his knuckles, bloodied and scratched. "First, you two go to Hogsmeade together, and then you're… kissing, in front of the whole school! It's not right."
And in a way, Albus was right.
Rose Weasley had never liked the Ravenclaw's, and she had never gotten along with Scorpius Malfoy. Yes, they were on par with each other when it came to test results and brain power, but other than that, she'd never given him the chance to get on with her. There had always been that rivalry, or at least, the one between her and the Ravenclaw's.
And suddenly, she was kissing Scorpius bloody Malfoy. Of course it was out of the blue. It was too sudden. It didn't make a lick of sense, in fact.
Albus waited, bundling his battered hand into his balled-up jumper to staunch the bleeding, until Rose finally said, "I know," and the flicker of surprise across Albus' face almost made her smile. He had probably expected her to fight him about it being right. "Nothing makes sense right now. I'm still coming to terms with it," Rose sighed, but Albus just stayed still, processing everything.
After a minute or two, he finally asked, "When? Why? How?" To which, Rose sighed, and said: "During detention. He was a part of my Amortentia. I didn't expect it, Al, I promise." And again, Albus went silent.
It was a full minute before Albus finally spoke again, his brain working. He stared Rose dead in the eye.
"Rose."
"Yeah?
"I'm going to kill Slughorn."
x-x-x-x
It was common knowledge by this point that, sometime in the afternoon, Scorpius Malfoy had kissed Rose Weasley on the grounds, and she had kissed him back. Thankfully, very few people bothered to talk to her about it or ask stupid questions. Scorpius, however, could only be so lucky.
Kissing Rose had its consequences, it seemed, because that action had earned Scorpius a nice deck to the nose, courtesy of one overprotective cousin. Rose couldn't really blame Albus, though, and neither could Scorpius; he'd kind of been asking for it, especially after pulling that stunt in the Hall just to annoy Rose. Still, she felt a little bad for him, especially when his Ravenclaw buddies started to harass him for making out with their one true enemy.
Not that rustling their already ruffled feathers bothered her, of course. No, that one was a blessing in disguise.
Of course, Rose wasn't looking forward to the letter she'd most likely receive in the morning. There was a good chance one of her many cousins had already reported her scandal to both the Daily Prophet and her parents, but she would have to cross that bridge when she came to it. Besides, there were worse things she could do, like, say, crash a damn car into the Whomping Willow.
With a small huff, Rose looked up into the star-spangled sky, enjoying the beautiful night sky, an inviting breeze clear and refreshing as her legs dangled off the ledge of the Astronomy tower. If only she had her broom on hand; she'd jump off the tower, swoop down and fly upwards just before hitting the ground. It was the Weasley blood in her, to do impulsive, stupid things.
But she also needed time, and going into something with Scorpius Malfoy needed time. Yes, she liked kissing him, and his intelligence was something she had always admired, but she needed more. The Amortentia may have begun this whole trip into discovering her slight attraction towards him, but that still meant nothing, not when she didn't really know him.
The little things she did know about, though, were the things that mattered. Sure, he was a Ravenclaw, and yes, he was so annoying that she wanted to hex him, most days, but he was also intelligent and witty. Scorpius was also stupidly passionate about Herbology, for some reason, and incredibly dedicated to his school work, but he was still cheeky and playful, unlike the rest of his stuffy Ravenclaw pals.
There was still so much to learn, of course, but the traits that Rose already knew about were a starting point. She would get to know him, one day at a time, and then she would decide where to go from there.
"So, are you ready to become Mrs Scorpius Malfoy, now?" The question, like everything in Rose's life right now, came out of nowhere, and was as much of a joke as Ravenclaw's prat patrol. Her nose scrunched up, and she turned to look at the young Wizard with a wonky sugar quill between his lips, staring right back at her and not even glimpsing up at the peaceful bliss of the night sky.
If he even dared to tell her she was the most beautiful thing there, though, Rose really was going to push him off the Astronomy Tower.
"Hardly," Rose replied, but she smiled, pinching a sugar quill from Scorpius' box before he could snatch it away. "You've not even managed to get me to girlfriend status, yet. We've barely had a date." And without thinking, she stuck the sugar quill into her mouth, and reached a hand out to move the hair that was falling into his eyes. She didn't feel the need to smack it away, any more.
Before she could pull her arm away, though, Scorpius grabbed hold of it, and stared straight into Rose's eyes. He took the sugar quill from his mouth, propped it behind his ear (because damn the hygiene), and gave her that little quirk of a smile she either wanted to hex, or kiss. She was unsure, at this point.
"Then date me. Become my girlfriend. Let's do the whole shebang, Rose Weasley, broom cupboards, and all." And Rose laughed, because it was all so bloody ridiculous, and all so weird to acknowledge that she, Rose Weasley, kind of liked Scorpius Malfoy, the Ravenclaw prat.
Okay, so she wasn't exactly enamoured with him (yet), and her feelings were all a fluster at the sudden realisation, but she'd get there. Albus was going to be okay with it, too, and Lily was probably going to start waving those damn self-cheering pom-poms around the corridors once she heard the news. The rest of them (especially her parents), however, she wasn't sure about.
But she had time, and one day, they'd get over it, much like the rest of the Ravenclaw idiots.
And one day, she'd ask him to be her boyfriend. For now, though, they needed to know and understand one another. Talking on the Astronomy tower was the beginning of that.
The smell of midnight.
A hint of musk.
Sugar quills to share.
It was cheesy as heck, but Rose wouldn't want to be anywhere else.
Fin
