Chapter 9

Following Rose's figure out of the shop with his eyes, Scorpius immediately stood up. Lysander, Rachel, and Sasha looked up at him in question. "Sorry," he said, not sounding sorry at all. "I have to go. I forgot I have... Head duties." Rushing out the door, Scorpius didn't bother to look back.

Once he was out of the shop, Scorpius began to shield his yes from the falling snow. Apparently, when they were drinking their firewhiskey, a snow storm had started. All around him, swirling white snow flaked fluttered down. "Bloody hell," he muttered, trying in vain to find any trace of Rose. Not finding any, Scorpius began to walk to and fro the front of the shop. His left foot suddenly felt very wet. Looking down, he saw that he had stepped in a puddle of water that had yet to turn into ice. He also noticed that there were footsteps leading out f the Three Broomsticks that weren't his. Taking a chance and hoping he was right, Scorpius followed them.

After walking for what seemed like hours, the footsteps came to an end. Scorpius saw a figure sitting on a bench right outside the gates of Hogwarts. "Rose?" he asked slowly, as if afraid that it wouldn't be her. He took a step closer.

"Go away." Scorpius was now sure that this was Rose. After all, who else would have the nerve to tell him to go away? Taking one more stride closer, Scorpius stood right in front of her. Then, he took a chance. "Rose," he whispered, but not fearfully like the last time. He captured her hands. "Look at me."

At those words, Rose lifted her head up to face him. Scorpius could see that her face was strained with tears. Her nose was red along with her eyes. It was obvious that she had been crying. "Shouldn't you go back to your date with that blonde bint?"

"She's not a whore," Scorpius said uncertainly, trying to defend Sasha. Then, he shook his head. Why was he defending her? He hated her. "And it was a blind, set-up date. I didn't know that she was Rachel's friend.

Rose pulled her hands from his. "Well you seemed pretty comfortable with her. Then again, you should be used to hanging out with prostitutes."

"Oh, so now you're calling yourself a prostitute, Rose?" Scorpius asked getting mad. Who was she to basically call him a man-whore? It wasn't his fault that girls flocked from all over to get a look at him.

By the looks of it, Rose was getting mad at him too. The white swirled around her, highlighting the anger in her eyes. "I wasn't talking about me, but I might as well have been," Rose started to say, letting her feelings out. "I gave you everything, Scorpius. Everything but my virginity. But if I offered, I bet you would have been glad to take that as well. Even though we never slept together, I just knew that you were going to go brag to your friends, tell them that I wasn't a good shag. You would tell them how I was terrible in bed, even though we never did anything."

"Rose," Scorpius tried to stop her. "Rose, listen, I..."

"No, Scorpius," Rose shuttered, "you listen. You made me feel terrible about myself after we broke up. I could hardly sleep for day. Everything reminded me of you. It wasn't until my cousins made me leave my room did I start to feel better. But here you are again, trying to get me to open up to you. You know too many of my secrets as it is. If you truly care about me, you will just forget me. Just leave me alone." Those last few words came out in a shout towards him.

Rose's face was red from all the talking she had done. Of course, the fact that she was crying before didn't help. She turned away from him, probably not wanting him to see her cry again. Though her back was turned, he could see her hair whipping her faces she tried walking back to Hogwarts.

Scorpius knew that if he didn't stop her now, he would never be able to. Throwing caution into the air, he shouted, "Rose." The wind seemed to carry his voice to her, but she didn't stop. Rushing up, Scorpius said, "don't say that. You've changed me. I do care about you, and that's why I'm not letting you get away." Scorpius grabbed her hands. When she tried to pull away, he just held on tighter.

"You complete me, Rose. You've show me that life had more meaning than just partying and girls. I made a mistake breaking up with you and have regretted it since. But there was a good reason for it. I need to be with you again. I just… I just can't imagine like without you."

"Well you seem to be doing a fine job right now," Rose snapped back, trying to free her hands again. Scorpius just held her tighter. Upon failing, she simply turned her head away. He led her back to the bench and made her sit.

It was them that Scorpius knew that he wasn't going to change her mind. Even since he broke up with Rose, he had wanted to tell her the truth. The truth about why he had broken up with her. On several occasions he had been tempted to, but has always stopped. The thought of hurting Rose or her family had always been there to stop him. But now, he didn't care. He had protected her and her family for months. For months, he and Rose had suffered, not being able to love each other. And Scorpius was sick of it. Sure, breaking up with Rose was the right thing to do, but he wanted her back. No, he needed her back. And he would do anything to get her back. Maybe this was his Malfoy side showing off again.

"Rose, do you like Lorcan?" Scorpius asked, starting a conversation that might lead to his doom. Surprised, Rose glanced back at him.

"What's it to you?" She asked, blowing the snow out of her face.

Scorpius took a deep breath, stepped closer, and leaned down. He heard Rose's breath hitch for a second. With their faces only centimeters apart, Scorpius clarified, "I mean, I need to know if you like Lorcan or someone else."

"No," Rose murmured her, her lips barely moving. "I don't. Lorcan likes me, but he's just a friend. He doesn't know the real me. Only one person does." She stopped, the unsaid words lingering on her lips. "I only like one person."

"Who?" Scorpius whispered back, holding his breath.

"It's," Rose stopped for a second, as if she was just realizing who she was talking to. "Get away from me. I don't have to tell you a thing." With that, she pushed away from him and tried to stand up. But, with Scorpius in the way, all she did was fall to the ground.

Luckily, Scorpius caught her.

Together, the both just stayed there, caught in each other's arms. Scorpius's mind was in overdrive. He could hardly believe that he was in this position with Rose again for the second time since they broke up. But, this would be the last time. Scorpius was determined to get back together, no matter what the consequences were. Without any thought process, Scorpius leaned down and kissed her.

Immediately, Rose's body froze. Scorpius kept o kissing her, hoping that she would ease into it. Sure enough, after a few moments, Rose sunk into the kiss and kissed him back. Then they stood there, right outside Hogwarts, kissing without a care in the world.

After what seemed like hours, Scorpius broke the kiss. Looking at Rose, he whispered, "Do you want to take this somewhere else? It's getting cold out here." Rose was more than happy to agree, nodding her head quickly. Taking her hand, Scorpius led her up the path to Hogwarts.

If he had been thinking straight and had looked around, no one would be dead. However, Scorpius had much better things on his mind.