Chapter 13: Bulgarian Blitz

Warning: The rating of this story has changed from T to M. This chapter contains sexual imagery and language.

Scorpius' POV

Scorpius winced as the angry, hot water seared into his freshly healing wounds. He pulled the curtain of the shower shut, but that didn't stop Albus from bothering him.

"What even was that, dude?" he asked from the shower adjacent.

Scorpius grumbled in reply.

"You can't ignore me," the Potter boy continued. "People were saying you got distracted and lowered too far down. You know that's dangerous. I've told you you can't do that, now you really can't do it again –"

"I obviously didn't mean to." Scorpius growled angrily. Why did this conversation have to take place while he was showering? Couldn't Al leave him alone for five sections? Albus had never had a great concept of personal space. He was fun loving and reckless, and he lived his life with almost no regrets. Scorpius couldn't imagine.

A part of him wanted Al to congratulate him for winning the game, but he knew that was selfish. What was even more selfish was taking that risk in the first place. Was it bravery, or was it pure stupidity? He was sure his friend was thinking the same thing, chastising him in his head.

Albus lowered his voice. "Rose wasn't happy you took that risk."

Scorpius ground his teeth so hard his jaw began to ache. He willed himself to not respond, and Albus must have known he wasn't going to make a reply, because Al switched off his tap and stepped out, drying and leaving Scorpius to his own devices.

He let the searing water fall down his chest, bits of him melting away as he sunk lower, eventually kneeling on his knees. His strong thighs held him there, the muscles showing clear signs of years of athletic training. He absent mindedly ran his hands over the scars on his chest. Perhaps, in a different life, if the scars weren't there, his body would be something to behold. Something of beauty, which was elegantly carved, sculpted by hours upon hours of ballroom dancing lessons and Quidditch practice. He couldn't think about what his body was instead of that.

He did, however, allow himself to slowly unwrap the Rose package. His thoughts lingered on her, her kind brown eyes staring down at him as she cleaned and magically healed his wounds. Her touch was softly vibrating through him even now. He wasn't sure if he would ever forget the scent of her, so strong, so sweet, so enticing. He imagined himself pulling at the bow on top that kept her held together. Grazing her inner thigh with his thumb, then the other thumb on the other thigh, then his fingers running up and cupping her ample behind. It was never going to happen, he thought, breaking his reverie with a sour taste in his mouth.

If it was never going to happen, what was the harm in losing himself to the thought of her? What was the harm, he asked himself, in imagining himself kneeling before her, just as he did now, wet, aching, begging her to stay near him and do anything with him at all? What was the harm in stroking himself to her, pulling her to him, saying her name and gripping himself so tightly he wasn't sure if there was any of him left?

He lost himself to her completely, pressing his unoccupied hand on the cold ground and tugging himself for dear life with the other. The water that ran into his mouth, he sucked in with his teeth, sharply, finishing with a swell of hot ejaculation that quickly rinsed away in the water. He shook as he stood, his body and mind utterly exhausted from everything. He put her away again, into that box in his head, so he couldn't think of her anymore. Shame gripped him, as he towelled himself off and changed into his normal clothes. She didn't deserve that, he thought, she didn't deserve him, the scars on his chest, his fucked up family or his fucked up life. He would never do that again, he told himself, and his desire for her would have to be a flame he worked to choke every single day.

There was no way in hell, not if the sky fell and Voldemort came back to life, that he was going to do that while thinking of Rose Weasley ever again.

Rose's POV

Luckily, much of the roofing had been repaired on the castle, and it was finally safe to enter the Gryffindor common room again. Gaggles of students gathered, socialising and dancing as a first year turned up a magically amplified record player. The Weird Sisters classic hit, I've Put a Spell on You, was playing repeatedly.

Lily and Alice ambushed Rose as soon as she entered what once was her old common room. "What happened?" Alice asked, her worried face inches from Rose's.

"Henry tried to kiss me," Rose said in a low voice, pulling her friends over to one of the windows, where they would commonly hang out during these celebratory parties. Lily gasped at this information, the drink in her hand nearly tipping over as she shuddered excitedly.

"Was it sexy? Amazing? Magical?" she asked.

Rose grimaced. "I wouldn't know. I bashed him in the face with a bag of popcorn."

Cue the spit take. Of course, Lily had to take a huge sip of whatever concoction she was drinking just as Rose spilled the beans about the attempted kiss. Rose spat, the sour taste of a talisman mixed drink pervading her senses. Angrily, she took the cup away from her little cousin.

"Help me clean this up Lily, and you're too young to be drinking this stuff, anyway!" she snapped, then lifting the drink to her lips and downing the contents entirely.

Alice was still staring at Rose, obvious concern for her friend speckling her expression. "Are you okay, Rosie? Do we need to tell James, Al, or Scorpius to –"

"You don't say anything to Scorpius," she assured Alice quickly. Probably too quickly, she thought, and gulped as she stared at the empty cup. "I'm sorry guys. Lily, I'll get you another drink."

Lily shook her head, taking a hold of Rose's shoulder and grabbing her into a hug. "We understand. Don't we, Alice?"

Alice nodded solemnly. "I think everything is starting to make a lot more sense." she said, eyeing Lily with some unspoken phrase.

Rose looked between her two friends, suddenly aware they were keeping something from her. "What?" she demanded, her voice louder than she meant. Perhaps the liquor was already getting to her.

Alice shifted her feet uncomfortably, hiding her hands in her pockets. "You rushed ahead right away to help Scorpius, that was a super nice thing to do…" she said, shooting a sideways glance at Lily.

Lily giggled. "You know, I think I heard some people say that Scorpius fell because he was looking at you and not paying attention to where he was going."

Rose nearly crushed the cup she was holding. "You two know me better than anyone else. How could you insinuate for even a moment that I fancy Scorpius Malfoy?" She asked, the words flowing out of her mouth like a running river. She cursed herself inwardly for saying them out loud, and her two friends giggled even more.

"Hey, we didn't say it, you did!" Lily said, reaching out to wipe some of the sticky drink from Rose's face.

Rose ignored the kind gesture, too irritated with her friends to accept. "Maybe it's true that I don't hate him as much as I used to." she conceded, hoping this small bit of truth would calm her friend's theory down. "But do not ever mistake me. I still hate him, with a fiery passion."

Lily raised her eyebrows at her cousin. "Fiery passion is still passion." She repeated, her voice lilting suggestively.

"How much have you two had to drink?" She interrogated her friends. They only giggled harder.

"Obviously, not enough!" Someone called from behind them, and Rose visibly stiffened.

It was just Al, pulling a very grumpy-looking Scorpius behind him. Both of them had very visible scrapes and bruises from the game, but Scorpius was much more beat up. A particularly long scratch along his brow and just barely hitting his eyelid. Rose's gaze dove over him, landing on his long, silvery eyelashes. He was staring at the ground, obviously avoiding anything to do with her. Geez, was it that embarrassing to get healed by her? He probably had some kind of stupid Malfoy code where he could never accept help from a Weasley.

Albus roped them into a drinking game called Talisman Fitz, where the players sat in a circle, one player was called on to ask a question to anyone in the circle, and the other player had to choose to answer the question truthfully or not. If the player was lying, the drink in their hand would turn colour, and if it did so, you had to drink the contents. They were not required to give the real answer, but they had to be the next to ask a question. It was not permitted to ask the same question twice, and you also could not give the same answer. You were also not allowed to give a one word answer, which was probably the most difficult rule of the game. Rose sat in between Lily and Alice, Alice next to Albus, the Scorpoius, Louis, Dominique, Fred, Victoire, and James. Thankfully, her little brother Hugo wasn't much for partying, and he sat curled up with a book on the couch. Fred danced around everyone's crossed feet as he handed out the drinks, each glad vial glowing with soft blue light. Rose was called forward to cast the smell, Fitz, that enchanted the drinks to be able to detect lying players. She was always trusted with this duty; as it was least likely her charm would fail out of all the Potter-Weasleys.

Most of the players were dressed casually, comfortably, or straight up in their pyjamas. The light shone from the fire, but other than that, there wasn't much lighting. The cousins and friends gathered in a circle so tight that Rose was touching elbows with both Lily and Alice. The rug they sat on, slightly itchy and dusty from years of wear beneath Gryffindor students' feet, was a beautiful floral pattern with maroon and gold accents.

Fred offered himself to go first. He held up his vial dramatically, pointing to it with a finger, and repeated the rules once more. "Remember, guys, you can't simply give a 'yes' or 'no' answer. And also. The talisman can sense if you are lying, even if you aren't aware you are doing so."

He drew in a long breath, his eyes darting from person to person in the circle, no doubt conjuring all his cousins' most embarrassing moments in life and wondering just how he could torture them. "Albus." He said, a sneaky smile creeping onto his freckled face. His bright blue eyes sparkled with delight. "When is the very last time you lied about something?"

Al squirmed, rolling his vial of talisman around in his hands. He chose his words carefully. "Probably about a day ago." The liquid undulated in the glass container, shifting hue of blue very, very slightly.

"It doesn't appear that was a specific enough of an answer," Fred said, still smiling.

"Fine." Albus said, then took in a breath. "I lied about one day ago, when I told Alice that everything was fine with Scorpius. He was super angry, and we were hitting stuff and venting to each other." Albus' drink

Giggles surfaced across the room, and Scorpius scowled at his friend, gripping his vial tighter. Rose didn't have the opportunity to wonder what he was so angry about, because Al was already picking someone else and asking a question.

"Alice." he said loudly, grinning at the short blonde girl who sat next to him. "Who do you fancy?"

Rose pulled Alice close to her, sticking her tongue out at her annoying cousin Al. She, of course, knew he best friend didn't fancy anyone, or else she would have told Rose as soon as it began –

"No one." Alice answered, staring down Abus with a bit of blush to her face. Was it just her imagination, or did Al…look disappointed, even for a fraction of a second?

In a moment, Alice's drink turned a violent shade of yellow. The players gasped, everyone staring at Alice. She turned the opposite direction from Rose, hiding her face with her curtain of long blonde hair. Rose stared at her friend, astonished. How could she not tell her? They shared everything, from what they ate, to what they wore, their friends, their hobbies, their interests –

"Sorry, Rose," Alice whispered, as if knowing her friend wasn't too pleased with her.

Rose squeezed her friend's arm encouragingly. "We will talk later," she said, throwing Alice a quick smile.

Alice cleared her throat, and the whole room looked at her questingly. With a single swig, Alice drank her talisman, as per the rules. She blinked, the strong drink causing her eyes to water for a moment. Rose laughed slightly. "It wouldn't be in your best interest to lie again," she commented.

Alice was poured a new portion of the glowing blue drink. She looked around the circle, her kind eyes widening at each of her friends. "I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable," she said sweetly.

"This should be easy," she said eventually, her eyes resting decidedly on Dominique. "Dominique, if you became a millionaire overnight, how would you spend the money?"

Dominique laughed, obviously relieved at the light hearted question. "I would buy a new broom, duh!" she said. "Also…probably a mansion. And some new clothes. Heck, I might buy Malfoy Manor!" she laughed, and Louis bumped Scorpius playfully with one of his elbows.

Scorpius made no notion this was humorous to him in any way. Dominique shifted awkwardly, then threw a question to Louis. "Louis, what's the weirdest dream you have ever had?"

The game continued like this for some time, resulting in quite a few people drinking their portion of talisman, the variety of colours changing the drinks into a glowing rainbow. Several players were tipsy now, the questions getting increasingly more inappropriate and invasive. It was Albus' turn again, just after he was asked by James how many Professors he had fantasised kissing.

"Scorpius," Albus slurred, hugging his friend next to him. Scorpius hadn't been asked a single question yet, had nothing to drink, and was visibly not enjoying himself. A bit of sympathy ran through Rose's mind for a moment, but then she pushed it away, curiosity getting the better of her as Al asked the Malfoy boy a question.

"Scorp, what were you looking at when you got diisssstracted today at the game?" Albus asked, poking Scorpius in his solid chest.

Scorpius winced, moving his vial around with his pointer fingers. Rose leaned forward so she could watch his face. Yes, Scorpius, she thought, what the heck was so distracting to you that you nearly killed yourself trying to look at it? She couldn't help it, she was morbidly curious.

He stared at the drink, as if definitely expecting to drink it in a moment's time. "I wasn't looking at anything, the announcer caught my attention and I listened for a moment." he replied calmly, suddenly lifting his head to meet Rose's gaze. Rose was trapped in his stare, and she kept leaning forward on the balls of her feet.

"You did not answer the question, little Scopius!" Al teased. "You were looking at something."

"Nothing, I was looking at nothing." Scorpius said, and the instant the words leaked from his mouth, his drink turned a gorgeous shade of shimmering emerald green.

He had no choice but to drink, and drink he did. With a powerful swig he pulled the liquid into his mouth, and at once Fred was back pouring him more. He drank that one too. And another. And Fred told him to stop, so he could keep playing the game.

"Rose." Scorpius said suddenly, looking at her with molten eyes. Rose gulped and sat back, not wanting Scorpius to realise she had been watching his every move. Her face was hot under his gaze, and even though she only had one drink herself, she could feel her head swimming.

They were the only two people in the room, Rose was sure of it. He captured her, her every breath, and the rest of the people in the room sank away into the floor. It only mattered that he was looking at her and speaking to her. She leaned closer to him, willing to answer.

"I know you hate me. How much do you hate me?" he asked, and Rose knew this question was not only for the game, but for some other, self-serving perhaps, reason. For what, she didn't know, but she was too tipsy to really care about his sadistic methods.

Did he really need her to spell it out? She thought, gripping the vial, positive it would never waver from its lapis blue hue. "I hate you," Rose breathed, "with every single fibre of my being. I wish you would transfer to a different school, or go crawl back into the cold, dark hole you came from. I hate you so much that sometimes my first thought in the morning is about how much I hate you and how I wish you would just leave me alone. And sometimes it's my last thought at night, how much I hate you, how I despise you. Forever."

The talisman wasted no time at all. With a fizz, it moulded into a colour Rose had never quite seen before; something pinkish and purple, with a twinge of magenta. No one else had their talisman changed to this drastic of a colour, not in all the countless times Rose had played this game with her cousins. She had trouble tearing her eyes from the changing vial, which was swirling with several different shades of pinks and reds. Her family members snickered, but Rose switched her ears off to their jabs and teasings. She knew she hadn't lied, so why had the drink turned colour? And why did it have to be such a bright colour? There could be no mistaking it. Whether she realised before tonight or not, it was irrefutably a lie that she hated Scorpius Malfoy.

Eventually, Rose was snapped out of her daydream by the incessant chant of her cousins: "Drink it, drink it, drink it!" They sang, clapping hands together and smiling at Rose encouragingly. God, this was mortifying. One of her few claims in life was that she hated Malfoy. It was, in some ways, the rock she stood on, the reasoning behind so many of her actions. But what if there were other reasons for her actions this whole time? Reasons seeded so deeply within her that she had blinded herself to them long, long ago. Perhaps it started the moment she realised he was attractive, or she was attracted to him, or when she found out he could ballroom dance gracefully, or maybe when he saved her life –

She shut the wandering thoughts up with a swig of the bubbling magenta liquor. It was very sweet, much sweeter than the blue kind had been; slightly tangy and floral. She closed her eyes as she swallowed, feeling the heat of the drink warm her from the inside out. Without opening her eyes she could tell he was still staring at her. If she didn't open them, she wouldn't have to face him or the embarrassment flowing freely through her.

It wasn't long before Albus declared he was bored of this game, and he wanted to start a new one. "Okay, Al," Fred said. "What did you have in mind?"

A devilish smile emerged on Al's face. "Do you all remember that time we played Bulgarian Blitz?"

Curses and laughter came from all around the circle. Rose smiled slightly, remembering only playing the game once as a little kid. Apparently, Fred's dad had found the card game in a very old magical curio shop. Once thought to be cursed, a few games were played among the Weasley family, and then it was soon discovered that no such terrible malediction existed. The cards, unlike a normal deck, came in a pack of 32, and there were four different groups with eight of a kind. The four cards were: the Joker, the Princess, the Knight, and the King. Rose vaguely remembered the game consisting of different kinds of dares, but she couldn't exactly recall. Especially not now, as the alcohol in her system make her chest feel warm and her head heavy. She yawned, temporarily forgetting the awkward predicament of being called a massive liar in front of all her cousins.

Al slowly pulled a box out of his jacket pocket. The box was weathered, made out of some kind of cardboard material that was stained and falling apart. An elaborate scene on the front depicted the country of Bulgaria and angels riding on clouds above it.

"Where did you find it?" Fred demanded, rushing to Al excitedly. "I thought I lost that ages ago at the Burrow!"

"The master of Bulgarian Blitz never reveals their secrets." Al said, holding the box away from Fred as she showed it off to all the cousins. "I say we've had enough drinking for tonight, but is anyone up for a quick game of one of the most cursed card games in all the wizarding world?"

"What are the rules again?" Lily whined, and Rose looked to her side to see she was laying on the floor, clearly pretty bored by the notion of the Bulgarian card game. She was definitely too young to play the last time they took the cards out, Rose thought. From what bits of memory she had, however, the card game had been anything but boring.

"Here's how it works." Al began, moving to the centre of the circle and opening the box with one slow hand. "Depending on how many players are involved, everyone gets dealt an equal amount of cards. Any remaining cards go back in the box. For the duration of the game, the box is kept in the middle of the circle, standing upright. You move in turns, the first person telling everyone what their first card is. Upon the start of each turn, the box will magically transform into a random object within reason, such as a bludger, a small chair, a bookcase, and so forth. Everyone tracking so far?" he asked, to which many responded and others leaned forward to curiously hear the rest of the game's explanation. "I will now describe the roles of each card. If you have the Joker, you must dare anyone in the circle to perform an amusing action using the object that has transformed. It has to be amusing, hence the joker card. If the person denies the dare, a curse will appear on the Joker's card, and the player who denied will suffer the consequences."

Dominique and Lily gasped, looking worriedly at the little box on the ground. Ah, yes – Rose remembered much more now. When they played this game nearly eight years ago, she had been denied a dare from Albus to knock over one of her vases in the kitchen. She had immediately grown whiskers on her cheeks like a cat for the next several hours. That, unfortunately, was the result of denying the card's bidding.

So in a way, the cards were cursed. Not so much a terrible, life-threatening kind of curse, but more funny, albeit a bit inconvenient. It was just the kind of game Fred and George would have either created or enjoyed as teens.

Albus continued explaining the rest of the cards' roles. "Next, if you get the Princess, you must give a player of your choosing a task involving love and the object in the middle of the circle." Excited giggles emitted from Lily and Dominique, as Victoire tiredly rolled her eyes at her younger cousins. "If you get the Knight, you can give any player of your choosing a dare involving a risky action. It has to involve the object in the centre. If you get the King card, you have to give a player any dare of your choosing, and this card is the only one that does not have to involve the object in the centre. Hence why it is the most powerful card!" Al said, brandishing a card that had an elaborate depiction of an illustrated King on the front.

He started dealing, handing each player a card face-down. Everyone ended up with three cards each, and the rest were set aside. Al then placed the small card box in the middle of the circle, and watched with outstretched hands as he and everyone else slowly backed away. The little cardboard box glowed faintly, and then shimmered as the material changed. Wood, metal, then plastic, and the shape turned into something spherical. The cousins and friends watched with bated breath as the box morphed into a bouncy ball.

"Wow!" Dominique exclaimed. "Who should go first?"

"Eldest!" James piped up, showing everyone the back of his card. He looked at his card with raised eyebrows. "Joker! I have to dare someone to do something amusing with this bouncy ball." His hand grazed his chin as he thought for a moment, then finally his eyes settled deviously on his younger brother, Al. "Al, I dare you to bounce that ball off of Lily's face!"

"Hey!" Lily whined. "That's not funny!"

"Pretty funny to me!" Al laughed, walking forward to pick up the small plastic ball.

"Wait, don't you want to hear what your curse would have been if you didn't complete the dare?" James interrupted. It was obvious Al was more than happy to hit his little sister in the face with a bouncy ball, but he paused and listened to James for a moment. "Okay. My card says…" James squinted at his card, reading the tiny phrase that had popped up since he made his dare. "...if you do not complete your dare, Albus Potter, you will be cursed with violent sneezes for 24 hours."

Probably not the worst curse in the world, but still inconvenient, Rose thought. It was better than cat whiskers!

Albus didn't waste any more time, he rolled the bouncy ball around in his hand as Lily bolted from her seat and ducked away from her brother. "Aw, c'mon, Lil, you don't want me to be sneezing for an entire day, do you?" Al leapt suddenly, catching Lily just as she was about to make a run for the nearest couch, and he planted the bouncy ball directly in the centre of her forehead. He didn't throw it hard, but still, Lily shrieked and fell over dramatically. Alice hurried to go help her up, smoothing her hair and laughing slightly at the ridiculousness of the game.

It was actually Lily's turn next, since she was seated right next to James. She looked at the bouncy ball ruefully, then placed in one again in the middle of the circle. The ball undulated, gleaming once again as it transformed in shape and size. It changed from a sphere to a box, then to a longer box once again. It switched its texture to something fuzzy, then finally to solid wood. It grew in size until it was a head taller than James himself, who was the tallest in the Potter family.

It was an elegantly carved wooden wardrobe. Rose had seen one just like it at an antique store once. What could they possibly do with this? Lily walked forward, carefully opening the wardrobe door. It was completely empty, save for two hangers. There was plenty of space for at least three people to walk inside of it. Rose thought amusedly for a moment about the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and a giggle escaped her. "I wonder if Narnia is in there," she commented, much to her cousins' amusement.

Lily turned to face everyone, shutting the door to the wardrobe again with a satisfying click. She showed everyone her card; it was a gorgeous illustration of a princess. "What kind of dare would I make involving love and this wardrobe here?" she wondered out loud, looking spitefully back at the magical closet. She still had a tiny red mark on her forehead from the bouncy ball. Albus shrunk back, clearly afraid his sister would seek revenge. Lily glanced at Rose for a moment, then smiled a bit regretfully.

"What…?" Rose started to ask. "Lily, what are you doing–"

"Rose. Don't hate me for this." she said, stepping forward to place a consoling hand on her cousin's shoulder. Rose backed away, eyeing the wardrobe then her cousin suspiciously. "I just have to test something out."

What the hell was Lily blabbering about? She didn't have time to wonder, because before she knew it, the words flew out of Lily's mouth, and she stood confidently, unwavering.

"Rose, I dare you to go into that wardrobe and kiss Scorpius on the mouth. Passionately."

She didn't know how long she stood there, her mouth hanging open, refusing to speak. Scorpius stood a few feet away from her, stiller than the gargoyles outside of the castle. Neither of them dared to meet each other's eyes.

"I am not doing that," Rose breathed, clenching her hands into tight fists.

Lily stepped away from Rose, looking down at the sentence that had appeared on her card. "If you do not complete your dare, Rose Weasley, you will be cursed with Petrificus Totalus for the next 24 hours."

Rose gulped, a surge of heat flashing straight to her head. She suddenly felt completely sober as she said, "I can't have that happen! I have Prefect duties, patrols, tests to study for–"

"Seems like you're going to have to kiss him, then," Al chimed in, grinding his teeth nervously as he tentatively looked at his cousin Rose. "What a shame, right, you two?" he teased, elbowing Scorpius. Scorpius didn't move a muscle, his arms tightly crossed against his broad chest. He had his jaw clenched severely, the vein in his neck popping as he tensed himself.

She had half a mind to throw her cards down, forfeiting the game, but she knew it was too late. Ever since Lily had uttered her dare, she was bound to the horrible curse. Even if she walked away now, she would be spellbound by Petrificus Totalus for an entire day. She wouldn't be able to eat, sleep, talk, read, anything at all. It would be pure torture.

Just one kiss. She thought, her legs moving her forward of their own accord. How bad could it be?

From the amount of discomfort the Malfoy boy seemed to be in, it looked like it could be pretty bad. What if Scorpius refused? He was totally within his right to do so, after all, he wasn't bound by the dare. And if he did refuse to let her kiss him, she would be petrified for the rest of the day and into the next. Rose couldn't think of anything more terrifying or debilitating.

She was expecting her first kiss to be way more romantic than this, and certainly not with her worst enemy. Even if it was a possibility that she didn't hate him, as the last game had proven (embarrassingly so), she highly doubted the kiss would be anything less than mortifying.

"If you stand all night there thinking about it, Rose, you'll be petrified by the morning!" Fred said.

No one will think badly of you if you do it, she told herself. You have to. There is literally no other choice.

She finally looked at Scorpius, boldly pointing to the wardrobe. He met her eyes with an indecipherable expression. Pained, perhaps. It was that revolting to think about kissing her.

"I'll give you five minutes!" Lily called out, pushing Rose into the wardrobe. "If you don't kiss him at that time, you'll be cursed!" Someone quickly pushed Scorpius into the wardrobe right after Rose, the Malfoy boy's broad shoulders cramping to fit the tiny space. The door slammed shut, locking again with that final click.

"They locked us in here!" Rose yelped, pushing Scorpius away so that she could pull at the door. Sure enough, it didn't budge. She really was trapped in here with Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy.

He scoffed. "Lily means business. You shouldn't be surprised." His voice was rough, gravelly, maybe sleepy?

She whirled on him. "I bet you're loving this. You're loving how miserable I am." It was completely dark in the wardrobe, but Rose's eyes quickly adjusted so that she could barely make out the outline of Scorpius. In the extremely tiny space, it was more obvious than ever how huge he was compared to her. It was like an ant arguing with a tree.

"You think you're miserable. Imagine how I feel, roped into all this."

"We could just pretend," Rose started, imploring him with a motion he couldn't even see. "We don't even have to touch. We can just say we did and call it at that–"

"The cards would know, Rose." he said harshly. She realised then just how few times he had actually called her by her first name. I was always Weasley this, Weasley that. It made things pretty impersonal, which was exactly how she liked it. She always assumed he liked it that way, too.

But now. Cramped in a tiny wardrobe together, their bodies touching ever so slightly, leaving very little to the imagination just how nervous the two of them were, it was anything but impersonal. Scorpius shook slightly, which was odd considering how still he had been before. He sucked in a breath, which was slightly broken, and Rose thought she saw him press his fingers to his temple. "I didn't want this to happen this way." he said softly.

"What…happen…what way?" Rose asked, her voice lowering as well. He was so confusing, all of the time, so many emotions to him just barely brewing under the surface. She wondered if whoever gave him his first kiss saw his true emotions, his true intentions.

He didn't answer her question. So she asked another. "Obviously, since you've done this before and I havent, you should just go ahead and do it, right?" Her voice sounded frail and childish in her ears.

She thought she could faintly see Scorpius shaking his head in the shadows. Then, out of nowhere, his cool hands were on her hips. His fingers held her there, gripping her like he was about to lift her over his head. But he didn't. He just held, and stayed still, and Rose could hear his draw another ragged breath. His cold fingertips felt her hip bones, and his thumbs grazed the curve of her fleshy sides. She suddenly remembered him grazing the snitch the same way, and without thinking, she closed her eyes.

Parts of her began to melt like dripping candle wax. Scorpius' touch heated, and her heart started to thump out of its normal rhythm and escalated to the pace of a bunny caught in a trap. Yep, this is anything but impersonal.

"You think?" Scorpious growled sarcastically, and it suddenly dawned on her that she had spoken those words out loud. "Did you want it impersonal?" he asked in the same harsh tone.

"No," Rose said, her voice strained. "I've always wanted to know what is beneath that cold exterior of yours. I tend to be terribly curious about a lot of things." What was she saying? She had gone mad. Completely. But the old her was washing away, dripping in that candle wax, and something was left behind that was being held by his hands. A spike of awareness dug through her middle, and she could deny it no longer. She wanted her first kiss, and she wanted it to be him.

His hand darted to the middle of her back, above her behind, and pushed her forward so her core was flush up against him. Her arms bent and her hands laid flat against his chest. She had felt it only briefly before, when she cleaned and healed him at the came earlier. He was so solid and warm, she thought. Her hip bones hit his, and she felt something hard and dense press to her navel. His belt buckle, maybe? She had no idea. Why was he carrying such a large belt buckle? Or was it something in his pocket? No, that wasn't the position of a pocket–

"Me too." he whispered, dipping his head so he said it directly into her ear, which made Rose think back to what she said before. He was curious too, about what? How hard could he embarrass her in one night? Surely he already had won the world record for Most Embarrassing Rose Weasley Moments. She shivered as his lips made slight contact with her earlobe. The melting was happening now in more and more places, one of those being directly between her legs.

At this point, she couldn't control her hands, and the tips of her fingers roamed his chest before reaching up and clasping behind his turgid neck. Something moved against her navel, something in his pants–

He had moved his unoccupied hand into her hair, grabbing a handful of her locks, and gently tangling his fingers in it as he held her head still. Inexplicably, she knew exactly what to do as he brought his face down to hers. She didn't know who made contact first, just that she felt his warm, wet, full lips meet hers with an unyielding pressure. They stayed still for a second, and then he opened his mouth, surprising her so much so that her eyes flung open. His tongue slid from his mouth and licked her bottom lip, slowly, knowingly, intentionally. She felt his hot breath hit her face as he let out a strange noise, something uncontrollable from deep in his throat. She licked her bottom lip, tasting the sweet spit he had wet her with, and instantly decided she wanted more. She pulled him to her, her hands still clasped around his neck, and he willingly met her lips again. This time, he was very hot, and their noses bumped together as they blindly searched for each other using their mouths, hungrily meeting over and over again to devour each other. She slipped her tongue into his mouth now, feeling with it, and meeting his slightly sharp teeth with the tender tip. He moved his hand down to fully grab her behind, and thrust forward until he was pressing her hard into the back of the wardrobe, as he bit her very gently, just on her bottom lip.

Then, as suddenly as it started, he backed away, his hands leaving her and resting at his sides. She allowed her hands to slip down, grazing his chest gently for a final time before she balled them into fists and crossed them to her chest. It was over, almost as if it had never happened, and he would never touch her that way again. My first kiss and my last with him, she thought, feeling oddly hollow. Her legs vibrated a touch, the melting inside of her still not ceasing, although he had long since stopped touching her. He leaned over and rapped harshly on the door, signalling that they were done. Rose remained, her feet glued to the spot. He couldn't wait for that to be over, or at least, that's how he's acting. She thought. Then why did it feel so…

Real?

Lily yanked open the door, beaming up at both of them. It was strangely dark outside the wardrobe, much darker than Rose had remembered it being. As she stepped out, legs still shaking, she saw for her own eyes the reason why it was so dark in the Gryffindor common room.

Every single candle lighting the room had completely melted, right down to the base of their wicks. Something that normally would have taken the candles hours or days, happened in the span of five minutes.