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Chapter 25 - revenge

I looked at the mirror and sighed. My eyes were red and puffy - it's become the norm these past few days. Just when I think I have no more tears to shed, I stand corrected. I feel extremely selfish - here I am, crying and whining because I can't be with Scorpius - but what about him? Not only doesn't he have the freedom to be with whoever he wants, he has to end up with a monster. I feel a pang of guilt and sadness when I think about what must be going through his head. I desperately want to be there to help him and support him through this. But how can I? It would be too complicated. It's best to remain far from him, and try to help each other forget one another like that. This is bigger than us. We can't risk Alessia going homicidal. Lives are at stake. I sigh once more - there's also the fact that I have lessons and live in the same castle as Scorpius does. Crossing paths with him is very easy. I'm dreading the next semester. This is the first day back from the holidays and I've already broken down once, when I saw him at dinner, alarming all those around me.

So far all I've said is that we broke up. I promised Olivia and Masie I would give them the details the next day - I didn't have the energy right now. I head downstairs to the common room and collapsed on the sofa next to Albus and Hugo, who were playing a game of Wizard's Chess. I could see Hugo's subtle smug look as opposed to Albus' expression of struggling and concentration - he had never managed to defeat Hugo in a game.

"Shouldn't you be heading back to your common room? It's getting late," I said, feeling sorry for Albus and nudging Hugo.

"Yeah, yeah, just a second, this will only take one more minute," Hugo said mockingly.

Albus looked up at Hugo is annoyance. He then turned to me and said, "Speaking of tardiness, shouldn't you be doing rounds?" My heart skipped a beat. After all that's happened I had totally forgotten that I still had rounds with him. Albus pointed at the notice board. "You and Scorpius are up for the first round, this week," he said. Both Hugo and Albus where looking at me with a somewhat pitying and sympathetic expression.

"You ok, Rosie?" Hugo said tentatively

"Yeah...I just...forgot..." I could feel my nails digging into the palms of my hands seeing as my fists were balled up so tight. I shook it off and got up. I'm going to have to learn to deal with crossing paths with Scorpius sooner or later. It didn't used to affect me when I met him, before we were dating, and I'll need to learn to get back to that mental state. "But back then, you didn't love him," a persistent voice said, at the back of my head. I made a mental note to tell someone - write to my dad or something, to speak with Professor Longbottom about changing the rounds.

I walked out of the portrait hole, expecting to find Scorpius waiting for me, as usual, but he wasn't in sight. I slowly let out the breath I was holding, and felt my chest muscles relax, although my heartbeat was still relatively fast. I almost arrived at the dungeons when a disheveled Scorpius showed up. We both stopped in our tracks. I bit the inside of my cheek to try to keep under control - to not cry or scream or throw myself in his arms. We simultaneously started walking down the corridor, not speaking a word to each other, not even looking at each other. I don't know how long this went on for, but we were close to finishing our rounds when Scorpius sneezed, and I automatically turned towards him, and under the torch light, got a good look at him. And I kept staring. I never saw Scorpius like this. His hair was pretty much all over the place and his tie was askew. His shirt was half unbuttoned...and on his neck...

The next 5 seconds were full of passion and blind fury. I made a step forwards and half-punched Scorpius' face, injuring my own wrist in the process. He staggered a few steps to the side, his eyes wide with horror as he clutched his mouth which was bleeding. He looked at me with shock. "What the bloody hell?" he managed to sputter as he wiped the blood off his mouth. I felt so angry and betrayed. Am I that easy to get over? Scorpius was already fooling around with Alessia? A POTENTIAL MURDERER? For a moment I hoped against hope that it was another girl - not Alessia. Even that wouldn't hurt as much. We had only broke up less than a week ago! "You have a lovebite," I croaked through the fresh-flowing tears of anger and misery as a massaged my wrist. Scorpius' hand flew to his neck. I couldn't quite make out his expression, probably because there was about a million different emotions flitting through his face. In the few seconds of silence, I got out a packet of tissues from my pocket, turned my back to Scorpius and tried to blow my nose silently. I had taken to carrying tissues with me everywhere these past few days, and they proved to come in handy when every little thing would trigger waterworks from me. It was strange to feel embarrassed about having to blow my nose when there are other more worrying things to think about. I turned back to Scorpius, trying to regain my dignity.

Finally he said, 'So what?' I would have punched him again if I wasn't so taken-aback by his answer. I felt the scream build from the back of my throat.

"SO WHAT?" I yelled, and a chorus of shushing came from the surrounding portraits. I lowered my voice to an angry whisper, "You didn't wait at all to start messing around, did you? What was I to you, some piece of meat?"

"Rose first off, we're not together, so stop butting in," Scorpius started defensively, "and secondly, SHE came on to me! And it has to happen! It's supposed to happen! SO WHAT'S THE POINT IN RESISTING? WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?" he said with despair in each word. Angry mutterings from the portraits rose up again, and we heard footsteps approaching. Next thing we know is that McGonagall is shining her wand in our faces. "Ms. Weasley, Mr. Malfoy, the rounds are made to preserve order and quiet not disrupt it! What's going on here?"

"The two lovers are having a spat," a portrait called out. "Shut up!" Scorpius and I yelled simultaneously. Professor McGonagall rolled her eyes, and sent us to our dormitories, making it clear that she doesn't have time for silly fights. If only it was that simple.

Getting back to the common room was a blur of tears. I wasn't sure who I wanted to kill first- Scorpius or Alessia. Alessia, for ruining everything; she could have anyone she wanted, and she had to try steal Scorpius! And Scorpius was just infuriating- he had allowed himself to be stolen! What really scared me, though, was the look in his eyes when he was defending himself. It was almost animalistic, a strange mixture of passion and fury and something else indiscernible. Upon reaching the dormitory, I quickly changed out of my robes and brushed my teeth, trying to sort out all of my emotions. The crying was done, I decided. Okay, not done, but I was trying to keep it to a minimum. If Scorpius wanted to be with her, that was his business. Finally, I decided my course of action, something that I knew would hurt both Scorpius and Alessia. I knew, somewhere deep down, that it was stupid, selfish, and manipulative- but I needed to do something. I fell asleep, wrapped in a cozy cocoon of blankets, with a smile on my face, for the first time in a long time.

I stared in the mirror, happy with my results. My eyes, once red and puffy from crying, were now shining and bright. I had tamed my hair to the best of my abilities, and it almost looked presentable; I had even bothered with makeup. Ready as I would ever be, I headed down to breakfast to meet Olivia and Masie.

"Hey, Rose!" Olivia squealed as I took the seat beside her. Professor Longbottom has instituted a new rule that at all meals, we were allowed to intermingle within the house tables; more of his "getting rid of house hate". "You look pretty today!" Masie nodded encouragingly in agreement.

"Thanks," I grinned. Feeling a set of gray eyes on me, I resisted the urge to turn and look at Scorpius, who was probably sitting next to Alessia. Turning meant seeing, which in turn meant crying, which I had sworn to myself I would stop doing so much.

"Does this have something to do with Scorpius?" Masie whispered, her eyes widening. I could feel my expression darken, and she quickly apologized for bringing it up.

"No, no, it's fine. Besides I have a plan," a half smile formed on my face and they leaned in eagerly as I explained it to them, in detail.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Olivia asked, concern evident in her voice. Before I could answer her, Professor Longbottom had started talking in the front of the enormous room.

"As you all know, we have allowed house intermingling during meals as a part of our new program, trying to get rid of house hate, so to speak. I decided that, just for dinner tonight, we will have assigned seating," he explained confidently, which resulted in a collective groan from all the students, except for myself. I just had to pray that Merlin was on my side in this, and everything would work out…

He promptly began listing names for the rows and columns, and I ended up sitting next to Austin, exactly as I had hoped for. Now, I just had to wait until dinner to set my plan into action.

The whole day passed entirely too slowly, but finally it was time for dinner.

"Hi," I smiled shyly, taking him in as I sat down beside him. I had seen him before, of course- but we hadn't really spoken to each other. We managed to co-exist in our parallel paths, existing in the same castle but out never crossing.

"Ah, the infamous Rose Weasley. I've heard much about you, and I'm pleased to meet you," he smiled a crooked grin. His mouth kind of crinkled in a way that you wouldn't think would be cute, but it was in an endearing way. You could tell he meant his smile because you could see it in his deep blue eyes, the light dancing across them.

"And you," I laughed in return, pretending to bow deeply.

"Not to start off on the wrong foot, but are you alright? I mean, I saw Alessia and Scorpius yesterday and…" his expression visibly darkened when he mentioned Alessia's name. Even hearing Scorpius's name, I felt a stab of pain, right through the heart, but I quickly brushed it off.

"I'm fine, just grand. And you? Since I know Alessia was kind of with you…" I droned off, realizing the conversation was headed in an entirely wrong direction.

"Whatever. I should've known it would happen eventually," he quickly brushed it off, but I could still see the hurt in his eyes. I pointedly placed my hand on his, trying to comfort him (and maybe, just possibly, trying to seduce him), but I could feel an electric tingle where I touched him.

"Your hands are cold," he laughed, taking my other hand in his, presumably to warm them up, but I felt warm all over.

"You have blisters on your hands," I observed seriously.

"That's what you get from Quidditch, I guess," Austin grinned. He held an unasked question in his gaze, was it okay that he was holding my hands. I sent back my telepathic message that it was okay, very okay, more than okay. It was at that moment that the food arrived, and we both dug in and sadly let go of each other. We continued to banter back in forth, with much laughter, and I truly started to feel "okay" again. Too soon, though, the room began to empty and the chatter and noise level began to decrease drastically as students started to leave the room.

"I'm definitely not done talking to you yet," I laughed, genuinely. While I had intended for this to happen, I hadn't planned on my reaction to him…

"You're very intriguing," he countered quickly with a smile.

"Well then, let's continue this conversation. Do you wanna walk down to the Black Lake with me?" I asked, trying my best to sound flirtatious and seductive. He nodded, almost in disbelief that this was happening, and we quickly got up and walked outside. The freezing air hit me fast as we began our trek towards the lake.

"Do you want to borrow my jacket?" Austin asked, already taking it off and handing it to me without waiting for my response. I nodded briskly and I could feel my pale cheeks start to flame. Gah, Weasley genes! He wrapped the coat around my shoulders, and I immediately began to feel warmer. It smelled of something distinctively masculine, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

"My, my, what a gentleman!" I exclaimed, grinning.

"I am quite charming," he quipped immediately. We finally reached the shore of the lake, so we sat down and settled in.

"Quite a catch," I added, egging him on.

"Definitely. All the ladies want me," he winked exaggeratedly. "I mean, I'm handsome, charming, I play Quidditch, what more could you want?" Austin laughed, throwing back his head. I could definitely see why Scorpius was friends with him.

"Oh, and don't forget, you're witty, too, you have a nice smile and deep eyes…" I continued, joking at first, but then realizing that it was true.

"Well, you're not so bad yourself, Miss Rose. You have a sense of humor, you smell like vanilla, your eyes aren't too bad either…" he turned his head just a smidge towards me. I repeated his action, as did he, until we were just centimeters apart, and I could feel his breath. We just stared at each other for a few seconds, and suddenly, one of us bridged the gap and we were kissing. Lying their in the grass with Austin was exhilarating; he was passionate, and yet gentle at the same time. His lips were soft, softer than I had expected, and he tasted like mint. We couldn't get enough of each other, and yet, it struck me as all wrong.

Gasping for air, we broke apart, and I finally said, "I'm sorry. I misled you, Austin. I wanted to make Scorpius jealous and Alessia angry, but I hadn't expected for you to be so… amazing."

"Oh," he said simply, not looking angry or sad, as I had expected him to. "I kind of… yeah, me too. I did this for the same reason, but I do like you, Rose." His gaze met my own, and we shared a mutual sense of understanding. Finally breaking the eye contact, I glanced down at watch and took a deep breath.

"Merlin, I'm going to be late for rounds!" I exclaimed, jumping up and brushing the grass off of me the best I could. "How do I look?"

"You look gorgeous… but like you were rolling around in the grass with someone," he grinned mischievously.

"Good, that's exactly what I was going for," I smiled, turning and running in the direction of the castle, ready as I would ever be to face Scorpius. As I was running, I turned back to see Austin still sitting there, and he flashed me a smile and a quick thumbs up. I felt a tingling in my stomach, but I quickly shoved it down and headed to rounds.

(sorry the formatting has gone all over the place D:)

But that's it on updates for now...reviews appreciated ;) Review lots and I might upload again on wednesday after my first three NEWT exams!

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