A/N: No words can express my gratitude right now. Seriously. 16 reviews for one chapter!? Holy moley!! Thanks everyone so, so much. Oh, and about this one-shot. I personally like it. A lot. I guess because it was just so much fun to write. And also, I always imagine Luna's husband Rolf having black hair. Don't know why, but I do. So the Scamander twins have black hair in this story, but Luna's eyes. Anyway, I hope you love this one as much as I do :D
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or I wouldn't be freaking out that I absolutely NEED to get to Borders, because I'd have my own library with every book in it.
.:Live to Love:.
.x. puddles .x.
"Ack! No, Lysander, go away!"
I ran across the Quidditch pitch as fast as I could, bursts of giddy laughter bubbling out of my mouth, but not stopping for anything – or anyone, for that matter. The clouds in the sky threatened a dangerous storm above my head, but what did it matter? All that did was Quidditch practice was over for the rest of the week, I was dead tired for studying at five in the morning each day, and Lysander Scamander had better get the hell of out here.
As in, like, now.
"Aw, c'mon, Rose!" he yelled back, his voice joking and foolish, but I kept running as fast as my legs would carry me. Which, after a practice full of hard drills and formations, wasn't exactly lightning speed. "Just one little kiss! For good luck tomorrow?"
"No! Bug off!" I screeched, strands of my red hair falling out of the ponytail and into my line of sight. Honestly, how annoying could this guy get? Where was Lorcan Scamander, the only one who could tame him, when you needed him?
Nowhere close by, I could see for myself.
"Rose!" He pronounced my name like it had two syllables: Roh-suh. "Rose Weasley! Get back here!"
"And you get lost, Scamander!" I was almost at the castle. The outside ring of stands was only a couple hundred feet away, a huge gap between a red and blue one right in front of me. All I had to do was dart between them and I was home free – well, to the castle, anyway. While still sprinting, I turned my head in the opposite direction to spot my enemy's position. Lysander was gaining on me, his overlong black hair flying out behind him and crystal clear blue eyes lighted with something I couldn't place – playfulness or desire, possibly?
But it didn't really matter anymore, because when I turned my head around again, I ran straight into a stone hard chest that sent me reeling and stumbling backwards.
"Blue's a horrible shade on you. It's just destined to lose." I recognized the voice, that taunting, joking, mocking, insulting-my-Ravenclaw-uniform, familiar voice…
"Scorpius!" I screeched in delight and dove behind his nearly six foot tall figure, clinging to his shoulders with a strong death grip. Realization dawned on Lysander's face when he realized I had hidden behind Scorpius, and he slowed his pace considerably, preparing to stop in front of him. "Scorpius, save me. Save me from him!"
"What's he want, Rose?" Of course, any false threat to me was a real threat to Scorpius Malfoy, my best friend behind Albus Potter, no matter if it was a silly joke or not.
"A kiss. And there's no way in hell I'm giving him one," I whispered into his ear as Lysander came to a halt directly in front of Scorpius, a teasing smile on his face as he looked around Scorpius's shoulder to see me.
"Oh, really?" Even though I was behind Scorpius and couldn't see his face, I still knew he was wearing the little smile that I loved.
"Yeah," I said. "So, go out there and kick his arse, OK?"
"Consider it done," Scorpius said in a low voice, and took one step forward, me moving with him.
"My good Scorpius Malfoy," Lysander said, adopting a polite tone. We all knew they were never the best of friends. On Scorpius's end, because Lysander was always giving these sexual threats to me, like this one. On Lysander's end, because he saw Scorpius as potential competition. "I would appreciate it if you released that beautiful witch behind you, for she is rightfully mine."
"I doubt I will," Scorpius drawled, slipping his wand out of his pocket and waving it around in Lysander's face. "I believe she doesn't want your company any longer. Now go back to the castle, or I'll be forced to fight you."
"What? No!" I screeched right in Scorpius's ear. A duel? Over me? It only seemed real in those romance novels with love triangles that my cousin Lily Potter read. "No fighting!"
"Very well, then. We'll have a duel," Lysander said with a small smile on his face while he brandished his own wand from his Quidditch robes. "Regular rules?"
"Regular's fine for – "
"Guys! You idiots!" I screamed. I definitely did not want them to fight for me, even though they both had silly grins on their faces. They had to be joking, but I couldn't take any chances. I stepped out between the two, putting one hand on both of their chests. "Stop. Just stop! It's about to – "
Before it had even left my mouth, heavy droplets began pouring from the sky, fast and furious. In a matter of seconds, all three of us were soaked to the bone, robes hanging off of us thanks to the weight of the water. I knew my hair had to be frizzing like crazy right now, but I really couldn't care.
"Rain," I finished a little too late. "It's about to rain."
"Then I guess we'll have to make this quick," Scorpius said as I watched the uneven Quidditch grounds – no doubt caused by tryouts last week, in which most participants barely knew how to land a broomstick – quickly become covered in puddles of various sizes. "Can't have our beauty get wet, can we?"
"Right," Lysander said. They both raised their wands into a dueling stance, prepared to fight. For me. Through me.
I let out a final, "No!" before Lysander took one step forward, ready to cast a spell straight through me to Scorpius…
When his foot caught on a deep hole hidden by water. He fell right down on his butt, splashing around in the foot deep puddle he had just plopped in. I couldn't help burst out laughing and soon, Scorpius joined in as we watched Lysander eventually regain his cool and sit up from his plunder, soaked in mud and muck.
"That wasn't funny," he muttered and spit out a piece of grass, his face a revolting mixture of red and brown.
Scorpius grinned wider and, not bothering to help up Lysander, walked over to me as I was laughing my head off. The rain was making his white-blond hair lie flat against his wet forehead, and I couldn't help but think about how breathtaking he was, even though he was only supposed to be my best friend.
"I guess I rightly won what's mine then," he said and scooped me up with incredible strength, arms positioned under my back and legs, my head cradled against his chest. He kissed my forehead and whispered, "And I'm glad I did, too."
And as Scorpius started carrying me back to the castle, the rain pouring down on us in sheets, I couldn't help but take a peek over Scorpius's arm at Lysander behind us. He was struggling to get up, the mud weighing him down, and trying to clean all the muck off with his wand.
I turned back around, smiled up at Scorpius, and buried my head closer than humanly possible into his strong chest.
Oh, yes, the right man did win.
A/N: Please, please review. It'd really make me happy. :)