Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine!
"And that's how you know you really love them: you forgive. Even if they didn't apologize."
-poemporn
Rose was running, Scorpius Malfoy's words still echoing fresh in her mind, her cousin Roxanne's, laughing face mocking her still.
How could she have been so foolish? As if Scorpius Malfoy could ever feel anything for her other than indifference.
Rounding a corner, she found herself in front of a secret door. Slowly pushing the door open, she rounded another corner, pushed open a second door and descended the steps, going deeper into the room.
She angrily swiped at her tears and slowed to a walk.
She shivered slightly and sat on the small comfy chair in the middle of the room, rubbing her arms, trying to keep the cold dungeon air away.
She didn't know how long she stayed in that chair playing his words over and over again in her mind. She conjured a small hand held mirror and glanced at her reflection. She had been called pretty before. If her hair was tamer and she didn't have to wear glasses, she thought she would be as beautiful as Roxy.
Screaming in frustration, she threw the mirror away from her and watched it shatter into tiny pieces. She broke down sobbing once more, sliding off the sofa onto the floor.
The images of Scorpius kissing Roxy came into view, shattering what little was left of her already broken heart.
Steps echoed in the small room and tight strong arms surrounded her. Without looking up to see who it was, she simply continued to sob.
"Oh, Flower. Shh, it is ok. Let it out Princess, let it out," a deep gentle voice comforted.
"H-he s-said I-I was p-pathetic," croaked Rose.
Lucca simply rocked Rose in his arms, tightening his hands into fists as he remembered his cousin's words about Rose to Roxanne that he had overheard. He knew he would find her down here in the small dungeon room they had found during sixth year. He would often come and stay here himself when dealing with the other seventh year boys was too much, even for him. Unlike Rose, he could always lock himself in the Heads' Tower, but he didn't want to leave Rose alone for too long.
"Flower, you're not pathetic, you're amazing. So bloody amazing, love. Don't let him get to you, Rosie. You're much more beautiful than any other girl in the whole bloody school. Don't let his words-or those of any others-get to you. If I could curse his arse into next week, I would. I would do anything for you, my angel," Lucca spoke softly, lifting Rose's face with gentle fingers under her chin until he could look into Rose's beautiful sapphire eyes.
"I love you so bloody much Rose, it's killing me to see you sad, to see you broken by them. Your cousin, I'm sure she didn't mean to agree with Scorpius. I'm sure she loves you Rose. Now come on, let me see that blinding smile I love so much. Bring back that girl I fell in love with, be my perfect, happy, bubbly girlfriend again, ok? Smile, Flower."
He was rewarded with a wide watery smile that matched his own.
"Don't ever forget you're perfect for me, Flower," he said softly as he leaned down to kiss her softly. "I just hope I'm good enough for you."
"Rose!"
Rose blinked back tears and looked to see Scorpius standing over her, waving a hand in front of her face, trying to catch her attention.
"Answer me, Rose. Why did you obliviate me? Why did you obliviate Lucca? What could possibly have driven you to do so?"
Rose watched as Lucca came back into the room and Albus walked away, giving her a small nod before disappearing out the door.
"Who told you?" she croaked, looking straight at Lucca's confused face.
"It doesn't matter who told me, Rose. I just want an explanation."
"What's going on?" asked Lucca, looking between Scorpius and Rose. He settled his gaze on Teddy, who simply shrugged his shoulders.
"Haven't you been informed yet?" asked Scorpius, not taking his eyes off Rose.
"Informed of what, Scorpius? What's he talking about, Rose?"
"Rose obliviated our memories three years ago," Scorpius spat.
Rose felt like the world had stopped. She could hear her heartbeat. It all felt so surreal, that it couldn't be happening to her. Her carefully built wall was shattering all around her. Her mind was replaying memory after memory she had tried in vain to forget. Everything around her was crumbling down and she was powerless to stop it. They would know the truth and it was going to destroy them all. Rose couldn't stop it, she couldn't stop the onslaught of memories coming back, and it was breaking her.
"Rose? Is it true?" gasped Lucca.
Rose simply nodded, not able to look up and meet his eyes.
"Rose?"
"I'm so sorry Lucca, you asked me to after I told you my biggest secret. You knew it would eat at me if we had gone through and gotten married. You sacrificed your happiness for me," whispered Rose, still looking down at her white sheets. She let the tears that had collected in her eyes roll down her cheeks freely.
"Oh, Rose."
Lucca didn't know what to think. He was shocked, yet he knew she wasn't lying. He would sacrifice his happiness if it meant her living free and happy, even after the short period he could remember knowing her. He looked up to see Scorpius fighting between forgiving Rose and hating her for what she did. He knew that his cousin had feelings for Rose. Hell, he had developed feelings for her himself, and if Rose wanted Scorpius, than he would move out of the way and let them be happy. But, that didn't mean he wouldn't try and fight for her, and like she said, they had almost gotten married, so there was a chance she might pick him over Scorpius. She had done so before, but what had been the secret that tore them apart? Curiosity started to eat at him as he walked towards Rose and put his arms around her.
"What did you do, Rose?" he asked quietly, slowly rubbing Rose's back.
"I slept with Scorpius during our relationship. Twice," she whispered back to him.
They both turned when they heard a choking sound coming from Scorpius. He stood there opened mouthed. He quickly closed his mouth and narrowed his eyes at them.
"Why would you obliviate me, then? Why not let me remember?"
"Because I was a coward. Because you didn't even know it was I. Because I loved you so much that it broke my heart every time you called me Lily. So I made you think it had been Lily and not me, I made you think it had been her that night. I erased the times you hurt me and made it seem like I was nothing, like it meant nothing, just another quick shag with another girl that wasn't me. I even allowed myself to think you cared about me during the time we were together." She buried her face into Lucca's chest and sighed deeply, reminding herself that Slytherins don't cry.
"Can you restore our memories Rose?"
"Yes. But, do you really want them back?"
An awkward, tense silence filled the room. No one spoke for what felt like an eternity. Lucca never once let go of Rose, something that wasn't settling right with Scorpius. He might be angry, but an overwhelming need to comfort Rose still overtook him. He should be the one Rose is leaning into, the one she is holding onto.
"I do. I want them back Rose. I want them back because I want to remember loving you."
Scorpius gritted his teeth. He really could just curse his cousin into the next bloody century.
"Me too. I want them back as well," Scorpius said through gritted teeth.
Rose looked wide-eyed at both Scorpius and Lucca. She took in a deep breath, and slowly closed her eyes. She searched her mind for the spell she needed. She couldn't believe she was going to do this, she couldn't believe she was about to go back on her word. What was going to happen now? She let go of Lucca and gave him a slight smile.
"I will do it. Please hand me my wand," she whispered.
Both Lucca and Scorpius looked at each other, neither trying to show their fear and apprehension at what was about to happen.
Teddy handed Rose her wand, and gave her an encouraging nod. He walked back towards the door and took his own wand out. He silently cursed Louis and Albus for not being here and leaving him to deal with this alone.
"Are you ready?"
Both men nodded slowly, and came closer to the bed. Rose raised her wand and spoke the spell her mum had told her she used to restore her parents' memories after the war. She kept her eyes closed instead of looking at Lucca's face, not able to watch the coming change in his features.
Scorpius simply looked on in amazement. She was magnificent, bloody amazing! He wasn't sure if it was possible to fall for someone harder, but he felt like he just did. He watched the light recede from Rose's wand. He looked at his cousin standing there with his eyes closed, as if he was in pain. He cradled his head and grimaced slightly, before opening his eyes.
"Flower. I've missed you."
Rose sat there stunned, and suddenly burst into tears. Before Scorpius could even move towards her, Lucca was already at her side, comforting her. Again. That simply pissed him off. Who did Lucca think he was? What made him think he was a better match for Rose?
"Oh, Flower. I'm sorry. I should've known better. Please forgive me," Lucca whispered into Rose's hair.
"I'm so sorry Lucca, I never meant to hurt you," Rose gasped out between sobs.
"Shh, I forgave you, didn't I? It will all be ok, Love. Don't worry. Come on, you've still got to fix Scorpius. Smile for me, Flower."
"It's just like seventh year again isn't it?" Rose said with a hiccup.
"It will be a lot better, Rosie."
They smiled at each other slightly before Lucca stood and allowed Scorpius to move closer to Rose.
"Ready, Malfoy?"
"Please don't call me Malfoy, Rose," he whispered, gently grabbing her hand, needing a tactile connection to her. Rose simply nodded and raised her wand again. She was getting really tired.
Scorpius braced himself for pain, but it never came. It was more of a slight discomfort, like the same slight pain when his father would use Legitimacy on him when he was younger. Like a dam had been broken, his mind opened up and memory after memory came to him. He had the sudden urge to pull his hand from Rose's. Things he never even knew he had done plagued his mind, and memories of hurting Rose assaulted him. He couldn't take the pain and shame that came with it. He saw the night that Louis had been talking about, and he saw himself with Rose. It was too much, and he gasped in pain as the memories took over. He jolted away from Rose and held his head in his hands, sinking to the floor. He shook his head in denial, wishing away all of the times he severely messed up, of all the times he hurt not only her but himself as well.
"Scorpius? Scorpius, are you ok?"
He didn't know how or why he did it. He didn't deserve to be so close to her after everything that he'd done, after all the damage he'd done to both of them. He stood up, walked over to Rose's bed, and gathered her into his arms, breathing in her smell, gripping her tightly as if afraid that she'd run into Lucca's arms if he let her go. His indifference and hate towards her pushed her into Lucca's arms once; he wasn't about to make the same mistakes again.
"I'm so sorry Rose, I hope it is not too late to say sorry," he murmured as he gently rocked her in his arms. "I'm sorry, please give me a chance to prove that I have changed, that I'm not the same man I was before. Please, Rose. Please," he pleaded. He didn't care if the tears that had accumulated in his grey eyes ran down his cheeks.
Rose didn't respond. The exhaustion of restoring two people's memories was too much for her and she was sleeping soundly in Scorpius' embrace. She wanted to stay awake to tell him she had forgiven him, but sleep won over.
Teddy let Scorpius stay with Rose, not wanting to bother either of them. He motioned for Lucca to follow him out, and with one last look towards Scorpius-who was already starting to fall asleep as well-he followed Teddy out the door.
"What's going to happen now?" Teddy asked.
Lucca simply shrugged his shoulders, not knowing any more than Teddy.
"Well, good luck mate. May the best man win."
Authors Note: Hello! I hope you've all had a wonderful week!
Please read and review! Tell me what you think!
Chapter 11 is being edited..( thank you seelieprincess) and should be up soon. Chapter 12 is giving me some problems, but I'm working on it. Like I said I hope to finish before the wedding.. Hopefully... Anyway, review please!
-dracorocks