Of Burns And Scalpels

Feelings released

Rose looked down at her feet, now unable to look her cousin in the eye.

"That was unfair, what you said today." Rose said pointedly, still not looking up to meet her cousin's gaze. "You haven't always been there Luce. You don't understand."

"Well to be more truthful," Lucy answered, her tone quiet. "What you threw back was also unfair." Rose did not reply, the blush deepening on her face. Instead, she turned to face the blond man again, her expression a cross between sadness and chagrin. He continued to tend to the garden as if there was no one else there, as if there was nothing but the soft wind and the tinkling of the leaves.

"Scorpius and I are just friends." Rose finally said slowly. "I… I…"

"You what Rose?" Lucy asked, her eyebrow quirked up. "Can't even find a reason, can you? We all know what happened sixth year. Why you and Scorpius suddenly became silent and eventually faded off. We all saw it, but for the longest time, we weren't sure what it was that had caused it…"

"That's in the past Luce." Rose snapped, her arms crossed defensively across her chest.

"Exactly. Stop living in the past Rose!" Lucy replied. Rose recoiled. Lucy's face was impassive as she stared down the curly red headed girl. Rose wasn't ready to back down however.

"It's not just about the past Lucy." Rose retorted, her blush settling out. "There's so much more to it than that!"

"Then what Rose?" Lucy pried; circling her cousin like a hawk would its prey, observing her. "What is it that is getting in the way of something that obviously makes you happy?"

"We're just friends." Rose reiterated, her voice starting to show a tone of doubt. Lucy stopped at her side.

"Do you really only just want to be friends?" She whispered. Rose spun to stare at her cousin but found that her cousin was gone. In fact, everything was gone. There was no garden, no Scorpius, and she seemed to be floating in a great bank of nothingness. Black. But calm. For a moment, she took in the silence, used it to ground her, to calm her nerves and soothe her soul. Lucy always did know how to pry into Rose's personal life, especially when she refused to tell anyone what had actually happened sixth year after the founder's ball. And with that, Lucy always managed to ruffle Rose to the point of terrible embarrassment and discomfort, not that she didn't send it right back, sometimes worse than she was given it.

"Rose! Rose!" A voice called. Rose spun around, her eyes wide. Before her, was Hogwarts, the scene, all too familiar.

Sixth of busy students running around in attempts to study, make new friends, or in some cases, make mischief. Rose walked to her next class, eyes down, reading the words on the page that she'd read many times before, but wanted to be sure she had them imprinted on her brain. She was quite good at maneuvering the corridors at Hogwarts, knowing where it would be the most congested and where it would be peaceful a walk. Today her class happened to be at the end of a very congested hallway, so there was talk everywhere, girls giggling, boys' hearty laughs and soft whispers. The thump of students' heels that were late to their lessons.

"Rose!" Rose lifted her nose from the book she was immersed in and turned around, only to come face to face with Darryl Thompson, a Hufflepuff sixth year with whom she shared charms for the past five years. Tall and slightly lanky, the boy was tan with bright hazel eyes and a smile that often dazzled many of the girls in the castle regardless of their age. He and Rose were always on good terms, so she smiled and waved at him as he grinned back at her.

"Rose!" He said. "I'm glad I caught you. Could I have a moment?" Rose tilted her head in curiousity.

"Of course Darryl." She said. "We have plenty of time, here, let's get out of the way." She tugged on his sleeve and pulled him to the side of the corridor, nearly against the wall, and turned to look at him expectantly.

"So, what's on your mind?" She asked. Darryl looked on sheepishly for a moment, but seemed to steady himself rather quickly.

"Well," He began, swallowing quickly. "There's been a lot of talk about the whole, you know, founder's ball that's in a few weeks. Well, I was wondering, I mean, it would be a great honor, if maybe you'd like to go with me?" Rose let her mouth drop. She couldn't help it. That was not what she was expecting him to say. Not at all. Darryl Thompson, pretty boy of the school just asked her to the founder's ball. Rose Weasley.

"I- uh, I-" She stammered. Well that was smooth, Rose. She thought. Way to go and ruin a perfect response with your big mouth. But something else was bothering her. There was a little voice in the back of her head that was telling her to say no. That little voice in the back of her head always had to do with one person, and one person only, and she'd never come straight out and admit it, but she was very much smitten with him, and in saying yes to Darryl… It would be betraying the little voice.

But then there was the other side to Rose's mind, which was telling her to ignore the voice and say yes. It wasn't every day Darryl Thompson asked a girl to the founder's ball for Merlin's sake!

In the end, Rose did what she always did. Blurt out the little voice's opinion before she could even think to do anything else.

"I don't think that's going to work." Rose blurted out. Her eyes widened and she covered her mouth, staring at Darryl apologetically, but he merely looked confused.

"I'm sorry?" He asked. Rose shook her head.

"I'd love to go with you Darryl," Rose said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I just can't say yes right now." There. At least she'd edited it a little bit. It was vague, but it would do.

"Is there someone else?" He asked, his face suddenly melancholy. Rose hesitated.

"I can't say right now." Rose hedged. "Please just, do me a favor? If I don't give you a response in the next few days, ask me again?" Darryl's expression turned hopeful and he smiled, all semblance of discouragement disappearing.

"Alright," He replied. "But know, I intend to take the loveliest girl in Hogwarts to the ball. I'll be waiting." He smiled and headed off to charms, leaving Rose in his wake.

..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..

Scorpius settled on his couch with a mug of hot chocolate, unable to shake his restlessness enough that he could sleep. He sighed and sipped it slowly, his thoughts churning towards other things.

He was alone now in his little flat, no one nagging him, telling him to clean or to do his homework. He didn't have much studying to do and he was relatively neat. He hardly ever had company (Save for Albus, who felt it was his sworn duty to wake Scorpius up at the crack of dawn every free day he had) and his little place was often quiet. Nothing there but him and his stuff. Quaint, small, and just for him. He sighed again.

Now that he had time to think, he turned his thoughts to what his goals were. A mental checklist, so to speak. He hadn't looked at it in quite some time, so it took him a bit of time to recall it.

Step one, He thought, Become a healer and shoot to become one of the best. Well, he had that almost completely checked off. He wasn't the best healer, (Despite arguments against it.) but he was well on his way to being as such. Quite an achievement for someone his age. Though, that could mostly be attributed to his frequent patients, Rose and Albus. He smiled at that thought, recalling times where a very disgruntled Albus had made his way into St. Mungo's, carrying some kind of curse or spell with him that, though not amusing to him, was the joke of the day to everyone else. And Rose, well, he avoided that milestone. That was one that had its own separate list attached.

Step two, He continued, Ensure parents are taken care of and financial burdens are secured. Now that too he had completed. His parents already had quite the dowry on their own, his mother coming from a well off family and well, his father wasn't necessarily a poor man after the war, and were well on enough to care for themselves. But Scorpius always put aside a small amount of money just in case, that way he was prepared to help them, no matter what it was.

Step three… He trailed off, realizing that his third step had been pushed off after school. He hadn't pursued that goal in almost five years. Ever since they'd left Hogwarts, and hadn't spoken of that one fateful night where it seemed like… like nothing would ever just work out for them. Him and her. It was like an endless circle of questions, but no answers. Hopes, but no fulfillments. Just pain. But he had always, and he found that even now it still resided within him, harbored a hope that someday…

He cut off his thoughts abruptly and shut his eyes tightly. No. He wouldn't think about it. Not right now. That would more than ruin his night. He wouldn't be able to sleep if he continued these thoughts. Forcing himself to stand up, he walked into his bedroom and changed into some basic gym shorts and a t-shirt, and, locking the door behind him, ran off into the night.

...::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::..::. .

Alice dropped her belongings on her couch and quickly made her way into her small kitchen. She had to start the potion right away if she wanted it to be done by morning, and she already knew right when Rose would leave her flat the next day. All she had to do was show up a tad bit early, drop some of the potion in her morning coffee (Which wasn't hard, Rose wasn't the suspicious type, and despite having been in Ravenclaw, lacked common sense that would instigate the suspicion to begin with.) and be on her way. Albus would then make a surprise visit to the office before she started work, and insist she go to St. Mungo's. It was full proof. As long as Scorpius didn't catch on to their little plot, or figure out a cure before she could slip him a hint. She smirked. Unlikely with a fiery hot red head to distract him all day long.

How devious she and Albus were.

I'm really sorry for the late update you guys! I have been preparing to transfer to San Diego and I've been trying to get my stuff in order, which is pretty hectic but! No excuses!

I would like to again thank all of you for your favorites, reviews and follows. I logged onto my email and almost died of joy at seeing how many people really enjoy my story and are looking forward to updates (That my lazy butt haven't gotten to yet… sorry!) and I'm glad you are still loving the story so far! Right now, I'm just trying to get a little bit of their past out in the open so we know why Rose and Scorpius haven't already gotten together. :} So keep on watching for the next few chapters! Au revoir!