A/N: Thanks for the overwhelming response for the last chapter! And, I actually updated quickly! I got some time today to write because I don't have to do any schoolwork (since Thanksgiving is tomorrow, for all you Americans. Happy Thanksgiving!).
So, I now present to you the twenty-fifth chapter of this story! We're halfway through! Hopefully the rest of the updates will come fast from now on. :)
Disclaimer: Do not own! But Rose/Scorpius wouldn't be that fun to write about in canon if I did own Harry Potter, would it?
.:Live to Love:.
.x. run .x.
I couldn't stop running.
Not until I reached the wide castle grounds. Not until I flung myself down on the wet grass by the lake, which was turbulent with an oncoming storm. Not until I curled up into a small ball and twisted my face into an impassive expression, holding back the tears as much as possible. Not until I forgot everything that I had witnessed.
It didn't mean anything. Of course it didn't. Why would it mean anything?
The tears at the edge of my eyes were threatening to trickle down my cheers. I bit my lip harder than I thought humanly possible and rocked back and forth. I am strong, I told myself, just like my dad and my mom and Uncle Harry. If they fought the Dark Lord and won, then I have to contain some of their fighting strength in me, right?
Breathe in, breathe out.
There was no point to me being completely and utterly upset about what I had just witnessed, anyway. I mean, he could go and kiss whomever he wanted, right? It wasn't like I was his mother and had to chase him around, chanting, "No, Scorpius, you can't kiss that girl, I don't like her."
And plus, there wasn't anything between us. Not even a tiny bit of attraction. We were just friends, and nothing more. The candid kisses in the corner of the library, the tender touch of his fingers grazing my arm, the gentle brush of his hand on my hair. It all meant nothing.
There was nothing between us. Nothing, nothing, nothing.
I pounded the word into my head until it didn't mean anything to me. Nothing, nothing, nothing. I replayed the scene I had seen only minutes before, still fresh and colorful in my mind. I relived it over and over again until my emotions were used up. And so, when I played it back again, all I could feel was a numbness of nothing, sucked dry.
Nothing, nothing, nothing.
"Rose! Rose! Aw, crap, Rose!"
I was amazed that I could still hold in the tears when I saw his rumpled hair. I guess it was true that time healed wounds, or so my mother said. My legs were still shaky, threatening to send me tumbling to the ground, so I stood up hesitantly, gripping the tree trunk behind me for support. I was going to need it.
"Rose," he said, finally coming face to face with me. His cheeks were flushed, hair sticking up at all angles, lips red and bruised from kissing. I shied away from the last detail and put a look of carelessness on my face, holding my head high.
It took a lot more effort than I'm sure it looked.
"Yes?" I asked, my voice cold and hard.
Scorpius wasn't fooled by my act. He ran a hand through his pale hair, pain clearly showing in his eyes. Why? I don't know. "I've been looking all over for you."
"So?" I took a step back from him, so my back was directly against the tree.
He inched closer and took a deep breath that hit me square in the face. Fresh minty breath, even after sucking face with that other Slytherin. Typical. "Rose… what you saw, I – "
I narrowed my eyes. "You what?" I prompted.
"It… didn't mean anything," he finished lamely, looking up at me with hopeful eyes.
I bitterly laughed. "Oh yes, I truly, honestly believe that. But, it doesn't matter anyway. We never had anything. Nothing at all."
He closed his eyes for a brief moment, and I knew he was dealing with some huge internal conflict. What that conflict would be, I had no idea. It wasn't like we ran around holding hands or declaring ourselves boyfriend and girlfriend. We didn't even make physical contact under the watchful public eye, even though everyone asked me if we were going out.
I didn't have a problem with him kissing that girl. Did he? Probably not.
"We do have something," he said when he opened his eyes. Scorpius placed a hand on either of my arms and rubbed up and down, creating goose bumps along his trails. "We do. I swear we do."
"No, we don't. Now let go of me."
His hand moved up to brush some hair that had fallen into my eyes. "Rose, I – "
"Stop it." I slipped out from under his grasp, slowly backing up out of the shade of the tree, ready to make a run for it in a few seconds. "You can kiss other girls, I can kiss other guys. So what? We don't have anything. Why would it bother me?"
"It bothers me," Scorpius said, the pain evident in his voice. "It does. Because we have something."
"Merlin, Scorpius," I said, turning around so he couldn't see my hurt expression. "Use the past tense! We're not boyfriend and girlfriend. What part of that do you not get? We didn't have anything and we don't now. Get over it!"
"Rose, you mean so much more to me than that. What I did was really stupid, Rose, the stupidest mistake I have ever made in my life, and I never should have. I never meant to hurt you. I'd rather have a thousand torture curses than ever treat you like this again. Just please…"
I forced my expression to be stony when I met his gaze one last time and said, "There's nothing. Nothing, nothing, nothing at all."
And I turned around and ran like I always did.
A/N: Please review. Thank you. :D