Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. Just this fanfiction.

SCORPIUS

The sound of something breaking woke him up. His body instantly became alert and he automatically took the knife that was always under his pillow before heading into the living room. Scorpius walked in silence until a groan of pain from Astoria caused him to abandon all precautions.

"Mom, are you hurt?" Asked entering the room and turning on the light

"My baby," she hiccupped, "I think ... I think I cut myself"

Once again Astoria reeked of alcohol. Clearly she had just come home and judging by the broken vase at her feet, she had stumbled because of how drunk she was, until she crashed with the table and knocked over the object.

The boy helped his mother sit up and examined her leg. The glass from the broken vase had ripped her pantyhose stockings and the cut was barely shallow, nothing to worry about.

"Wait here," he said, "I'll go get something to heal you"

The woman nodded obediently and the boy went to the bathroom in search of cotton and antiseptic as well as some Band-Aid's. Scorpius cleaned the wound, applied the adhesive, and helped her go to bed. She murmured that she loved him as he tucked her in and before falling into a deep sleep.

With a sigh he returned to the living room, cleaned the floor, and threw the pieces of glass in the garbage can. Sleep had abandoned him and he knew he would pay dearly for it in the morning, but right now he couldn't sleep even if he wanted to.

The boy had long accepted the fact of Astoria having these moments. He had tried to take her to rehab more than once, but she always gave up the treatment after a couple of meetings. Honestly at this point the little scenes that his mother put on didn't stop him from sleeping.

Now it was Rose who was in his mind instead.

Rose and the kiss they had shared. Hell, that damn kiss. Her lips had felt so good against his. The boy inevitably felt his crotch harden as he remembered the taste of her tongue against his, her hands caressing his shoulders.

Scorpius got to his feet and did some pushups to try remain calm. It took him a while but he succeeded. The redhead however, did not leave his mind. She was damn beautiful with those big brown eyes and wild hair.

That night, like several previous ones, he dreamed of her. When he woke up around seven o'clock he hurried to get to the car workshop on time. His boss was sitting very concentrated reading his newspaper and barely nodded when he saw him. Anyway, he had to finish fixing a car that had hit a utility pole, so he focused on that grateful for the manual work was a distraction from the ideas in his mind.

The hours passed quickly and he was only aware of it because Theo called him to find out if they would have lunch together. The boy said yes, so he changed his work clothes for street clothes and headed to the restaurant. His friend was already there, filling out a crossword in a sports magazine dedicated to basketball, the sport he practiced.

"Teddy," he greeted sitting down next to him. The other boy growled at the nickname, "Where's your sister?"

"She's with Rose, they had a sale or something like that," he shrugged.

"Ah, right," Scorpius agreed, remembering the invitation she had made him. "It's good, isn't it? That Cassie decided to go. It's good for her"

"Yes, it is," Theo admitted. "The redhead is a good girl and I know she's been a positive influence on Cass, so she has my affection for that."

Scorpius tried to smile at his best friend but ended up glaring at him because he hadn't liked the last part of his comment. Theo laughed.

"So it's true," he said, "You like the redhead"

Teddy whistled in surprise and put his crossword aside, "I heard Val has been acting like a crazy bitch because someone told her they saw you two making out. I told her that couldn't be true because she is still one of the Gryffindor girls. And you are a respected member of Slytherin".

There was a reproachful tone in his voice that annoyed him. Gang restrictions had never been a problem for Scorpius, mainly because he had had fun with the Slytherin girls in the past, but with Rose it was different. It felt different because he didn't want to just have fun with her.

"It's not Val's business or yours," he ended up replying

"Scorpius ..."

"I won't talk about it"

"Good. I won't insist then," Theo shrugged and went back to picking up his crossword. He knew Scorpius's limits and knew how far to put pressure on his friend, "You are not a little boy and you know what is best for you".

Once again, Scorpius hated his tone of voice but did not reply. He didn't want to fight with Theo.

Aunt Tracey served the lunch just then and he rushed to eat as he had to go back to the car workshop. After thanking his uncles and saying goodbye to Theo, who was once again in his usual cheerful mood for he was going to meet one of his usual dates shortly, Scorpius left the restaurant.

When he got to the shop he focused squarely on the car he was fixing and forgot all the problems. At dusk and with the work done, he said goodbye to the boss and the other coworkers to go to his department. The place was very quiet, so Astoria should be in the department store or some other place, although for now that did not matter to him. He just wanted to rest, so he kicked off his shoes and collapsed on the bed.

He woke up about three hours later due to several phone calls from Rygel. The boys were waiting for him in the usual meeting building. He muttered a reply and took a quick bath, put on a clean T-shirt, jeans, and left his hair tousled before leaving the house and striding there.

The place was full of laughter and trendy music. Cigarette smoke filled his lungs. His companions were already quite animated, after all it was Saturday.

"The man is here!" Someone shouted although the boy did not recognize the voice

Scorpius smiled at no one in particular, grabbed a cup of beer, and sat on a secluded couch. He wasn't in the mood to party and he certainly didn't want to talk to anyone either. Well ... that wasn't entirely true. Honestly, he would have liked to be with Rose. The moments spent with her when he picked her up at the bus stop were his favorites. They wouldn't talk about anything in particular but the presence of the girl used to calm him, made him feel excited and also, she inspired him confidence. He knew that if he shared something with Rose, she would listen to him carefully. She made him feel important. And then there was the cherry taste of her lips that never left his mind. He wanted very much to be able to kiss her, caress her ... she caused in him a craving that no other girl had awakened.

"You're finally here"

Arms surrounded him before he could react. He didn't have to see the girl's face to know it was Val. She was the only one who dared to do that. The other girls were usually more submissive and waited until he would allow them to touch him.

"Stand back," he growled as he took her by the shoulders and pulled her away from his body. Her presence bothered him.

"Why are you behaving like this Scorp?" She hissed, getting closer to him again, "We used to have so much fun."

"Yeah, and that was before, but now I'm not interested anymore," he snapped standing up, "So stop bothering me, or Rose since we talked about it."

Val stood up. She was tall and with the heels she was using, their faces were almost level.

"So this is all for her. I should have guessed," Her eyes flared with fury, "Seriously Scorpius, what do you see in her? She is just a naive girl..."

"I'm not going to discuss this with you Valerie. So take what's left of your dignity and go make someone else's life miserable. Stay away from me or Rose or you're going to regret it."

She seemed to want to reply something but ended up twisting her face and walking away. The boy knew that maybe he shouldn't have been so hard on her, but he had grown tired of making her understand that there was nothing between them.

Scorpius spent the rest of the night apart from everyone and drinking more than was good for him. Usually he didn't like to drink that much for he hated the feeling of not being in control, but tonight it felt good to do so. He was jaded although he was not sure of what.

"Aren't you taking a girl home tonight?"

Mason Avery, a boy several years older than him and already a Slytherin initiate, sat next to him.

"I never take anyone home," Scorpius clarified

"You know what I mean," he smirked.

"I don't feel like tonight"

Avery nodded and took a long sip of his beer before turning to the blonde, "You know? I heard a rumor about you and a Gryffindor girl. I said to myself "it must be a joke, Scorpius is much better than that. He would not mess with one of those girls, much less with a cousin of Potter", am I right?

"I see news travel fast"

"You know how it works," his tone of voice changed suddenly becoming threatening, "So I ask again, is it true or not?"

"What if it was? What if I do have something with that girl?" He hated being spoken in that way, that authoritative tone that made his blood boil

Mason laughed, finished his beer, and crumpled the paper cup to throw it on the floor.

"We're going to be watching you," he warned him, "Neither the bosses nor I like this kind of behavior from you. Remember Scorpius, you are a Slytherin too. And we have helped you many times. Or should we remind you of everything you owe us?"

A jolt of rage ran through Scorpius as he heard Avery's words, but he held himself against the urge to hit him. Avery seemed pleased by his reaction and walked away. Once he was alone, he decided to leave as well. He couldn't stand being in that place anymore.

Astoria was passed out on the couch by the time he arrived, and seeing her in that state made the anger returned. He suddenly wanted to wake her up and yell at her, claim her for having been so weak, for having practically abandoned him to his fate when his father abandoned them, for having taken refuge in alcohol without paying attention to him. Scorpius had had to learn to fend for himself since he was seven, and it was because of that that he had fallen into the control of the Slytherins. And they kept reminding him of that.

He flopped down on the bed and stared at the ceiling because, again, sleep was alien to him. He couldn't stop thinking about Rose… and Avery's words. He knew that the previous conversation with Mason had been a threat. He knew that even if he wanted to continue seeing Rose, the gang would forbid him to do it. He knew what the Slytherins were capable of and he had to keep Rose away from any retaliation they might take against her.

Besides, what did he hope to achieve with her? The redhead was beautiful, yes… but what would happen next? He had never been in a relationship. Love only gave problems, caused complications and he did not need that in his life.

By the time morning came he knew he had to cut through whatever he had with Rose at once. It was the best for both her and him because, in the long run, it would only make her suffer, he was sure of that. And she didn't deserve that.

On Sunday he ignored everyone and stayed home, and same happened on Monday. But on Tuesday, after high school he headed over to Val's house. It didn't take long to convince her to forgive him. A couple of caresses, a few kisses and nice words and again she was willing to do anything for him. So he took her to his uncle's restaurant. He knew that Rose was working there that afternoon and he had to act as soon as possible.

When he entered the place with Val and sit in one of the tables, her group of friends chanted like fools and that caught the attention of the redhead. And Scorpius took that opportunity to kiss Val, placing her on his lap and stroking her back. He knew Rose was watching them. And he hated himself when he noticed the pain in the girl's eyes, but he knew he was doing the right thing.

A/N: Hello readers, Happy New Year! Hopefully 2021 bring us joy, health and positive things.

And also hopefully you liked this chapter.
Thoughts? Would love to read them :)
A magical year for all of you