A/N: Wow, might I just say that reaction was quite unexpected. It's great to know you all liked it, though I will take this moment to say thank you for the overwhelming support for that last chapter NOT being the last one. I will update as I can, I do work full time and then come home and work more, oh and then there is the whole I am the mother of two thing... so it's won't be some consistent new chapter every week thing. But I'll work on it when I can.
This chapter is considerably longer then I meant it to be, but I just loved having the family interaction and so I just let them go on a bit. I tried to make it relevant but mostly I just wanted to show they are family and bicker like real families do. I hate it when the cousins are all super awesome best friends who never fight. I just think "Were you raised an only child?" So here you go. In the last chapter I told you to review if you wanted more, so uhm yeah I definitely got people doing that. Could you tell me your favorite line from this one, or specific moment? Enjoy :)
Decisions
Sleep had been a fleeting fantasy as Scorpius lay in bed the previous night. All he wanted was to close his eyes and block out Rose's words to him.
'We're still best pals, nothing at all. Just two friends sharing a snog, purely physical reactions right.'
Instead frustration festered inside of him, purely physical. It had certainly been physical yes but to him it had been so much more. It had been joy and bliss and the fulfillment of every fantasy, alright not every fantasy, hell not even half of them. But it was the hope that they could be filled someday. That kiss had invoked the possibility of dream fulfillment. Was that worse then the knowledge he hadn't a hope in the world of garnering her affections?
There would be no footsies under the library table as they pretended to study, no snuggling with her by the common room fire with a book. The kiss of a gentle blush coloring her cheeks as she read a love letter he wrote her. All of the innocent moments he'd dreamed up to share with her would never happen because it was all purely a natural physical reaction that two people have when they're snogging senseless as a diversion tactic.
If you'd asked him the previous morning if he could choose between never having Rose and guessing at what he was missing or having one blissful quarter of an hour spent ravishing her against a wall fully clothed and knowing for the rest of his life he'd never get another moment like that. He didn't have a slightest doubt he'd have picked Rose. Touching Rose, smelling Rose, tasting Rose, it would have been worth anything to have that right?
This though, staring into the blank abyss of his bed hangings after a night of chasing sleep with the ghosts of her touch haunting his skin was maddening. To know the feel of her soft flesh burning into his mind. The taste of her salty skin branded onto his tongue. The shape his hand took as it cupped her backside, kneading it gently or the sound of he soft mewing moans, it was all a part of him now. He would have that knowledge ingrained in him forever. A treasured blessing and a terrible curse all rolled into a single ball of arousing memory.
It was early still but by the repetitious glances at his watch he knew it was morning. He got out of bed then after a long hot shower and some enthusiastic broom polishing he found himself wandering into an almost deserted great hall. He was resolved to sit and pick at his breakfast in his own solitary melancholy when a head of unkempt dark hair diverted his attention. Al was his closest friend besides Rose and thought that perhaps it was time to get a voice of reason to weigh in on the subject of his unrequited affections.
"You're up early." Al called out with a smile when he noticed Scorpius approaching his table.
"Couldn't sleep." Scorpius answered as he took the empty seat next to him on the Gryffindor table. As much as he had seen various and Rose do it countless times he always felt like an uninvited guest at a party when he sat at any house table that wasn't beneath the blue and bronze hangings. He shook off the feeling as best he could as he swung his legs over the bench and began staring at the copious amounts of bacon laid out directly before him. "And you?" he added as an after thought as to why Albus, who was know for being particularly lethargic in the early hours and constantly running late before first lesson because of it was up and cheerful about it as well.
"I should be insulted, but that takes too much work to hold a grudge so I'll just tell you. It's my birthday." He answered and then continued on adopting a not of mock smugness. "Today I become a man my dear boy. One day you'll understand the weight and responsibility that befalls one at this important juncture in life, the scope and magnitude of life, the universe, everything has a -"
"My birthday was 4 months ago Al, and now I officially feel no guilt for neglecting to remember yours when you've so easily forgotten mine." Scorpius interrupted him with a small smile before taking a bit of his toast.
"As you know the brood is rather fond of, shall we say unorthadox methods of waking you up on your birthday. Something about my dad doing something to my uncle when he turned 17, anyway, it's just another tradition of ours, one that I very luckily escaped this morning by setting my alarm for 5 am and then leaving a little surprise for any one attempting any spells pointed at my bed curtains.
"Anyhow, you shouldn't feel guilty since you got me something, 'The unauthorized biography of Harry Potter' by Rita Skeeter which of course features an entire chapter going over the names he chose for his children. Funny you little wanker." Though Al's voice dripped with annoyance but Scorpius knew he appreciated the lack of hero worship he held for the famous Potter family.
"Yes the theory of his homeo erotic teenage exploration phase with both the ancient and the smarmy Professors fascinating." Albus colored with real annoyance at this before stabbing his fried egg in effigy.
"I hate that woman," was all he said. They slipped into a companionable silence where in Scorpius's mind swirled back to the reasons for it's misery. When Al spoke it drew Scorpius out sharply of the bittersweet memory of the feel of Roses legs wrapped around his body. "So why couldn't you sleep?"
Scorpius thought for a moment before speaking. He had confessed to no one but Cecelia about his feelings for Rose and his admission then hadn't been on purpose. But he felt as though he could endure this no longer. It was torture sitting alone in his own debates about what to do, he needed a new train of though to steady himself upon. Even if it was just in the knowledge that he disagreed, then at least he knew what he would be against. So then, with out preamble or any further internal debate he said the most closely guarded secret of his existence.
"I think I'm in love with Rose." He didn't take his eyes off the toast he was ripping to pieces.
"You think or you are?" Al's now solemn voice asked after a long moment of silence. Scorpius didn't have to think about it before he clarified.
"I am."
"Damn it!" Al threw his fork onto the table where it bounce off with a loud noise punctuated by a piece of egg flying off and landing on the floor 5 feet away. This was bad, really really bad. He knew confessing his admiration for his cousin might not be to his liking but he hadn't expected out right venom. He clutched his bag as he shifted his weight for a hasty retreat, he'd seen those unfortunate few who had ended up on the wrong end of the broods collective dislike.
"You couldn't have waited just one more day. A measly 18 more hours later and I'd be 5 galleons richer, you annoying little tosser."
"Excuse me?" Scorpius managed to stammer in his exceptional confusion.
"Hugo is just going to love this, that little scamp always wins. I'm never going against him in one of these again!" Al picked up his now egg free fork and began eating once again as though Scorpius hadn't just unearthed his deepest secret nor had he just considered running for his life.
"I'm sorry, what?" Was all his now addled brain could muster.
"Well you see I had 5 galleons on it not being until after my birthday, but Hugo, well he said it would be after Christmas but before Easter and I just kept insisting it wouldn't be until the spring when all the world was lovey dovey. That's when you went all Rose crazy last year so I thought perhaps it was seasonal. Could you pass me the marmalade?"
Al stretched out his arm, awaiting the jar of orange marmalade sitting two empty plates away from them. Scorpius grabbed it for lack of anything better for his mind to comprehend, for this was certainly all sorts of flabbergasting. As he handed over the glass jar Al seemed to interpret Scorpius's confused look and continued.
"Oh, I'm sorry, were you expecting that to be some shocking revelation?" Al chuckled as he nibbled on a bit of toast. Scorpius stared dumbfounded into Al's amused face. "Oh look, you actually were. Alright look, we're going to skip past the recap of how obvious you are and how obvious she is and I'm just going to tell you to go for it."
Scorpius was speechless, completely unnerved at how unexpectedly this conversation was going. It was a few moments before he found his ability for comprehensive thought. Obvious, they had been obvious? He thought he'd been so careful? Never had he breathed a word of his feelings, he had painstakingly kept any evidence buried as deeply as possible. Then a thought struck him, they, they had been obvious.
"Al, are you saying that Rose might, I mean could she, do you think that...?" Scorpius's incoherent rant was cut off by Al's snickering.
"Wow, for smart people you two really are dumb as rocks." To this Scorpius's jaw just opened and closed several times like a fish staring out into a crowded healer's waiting room. Three eggs and a fair amount of bacon later Al took pity and continued. "As I see it you really only have two choices in the matter.
"First, you ignore it. Be her best friend, pretend it's life as usual and get over it. Though my guess is you've been trying that with zero success since your little stunt at the Victory ball last May and you're confessing the overly obvious because it's working just about as well as that tactic usually goes." Al accentuated this point with a shrug of his shoulders. "Or, you go for it." The hall was beginning to fill now but a thick silence hung between.
"Go for it? Go for what?" Scorpius spluttered.
"For what you want moron. How is it your 2nd in our class again?" Al glanced over at the Hufflepuff table before taking a long swig of his pumpkin juice.
"What is it that I want exactly?"
"Rose I think? Though if you go into details, I'm likely going to vomit since she's my cousin. So please refrain from dribbling on about the exact particulars."
"How?" He asked Al.
"Your guess is as good as mine." Al stared off at the Hufflepuff table again with a distant expression on his face. Before either of them could speak again they were interrupted by a large bag hitting the floor between them.
"That was brilliant Al, Hugo was upside down for quarter of an hour before James could finally stop laughing enough to perform the counter spell and let him down." Rose sat down in the small space between the two boys, shunting either one to the side slightly making room for her to lean her elbows back on the table as she relaxed back onto the bench as she sat facing the opposite direction. Scorpius tried to swallow his panic by the sudden appearance of the topic of conversation.
Neither of them said anything at her arrival and after an confused look at Scorpius she turned her head in the direction Al was staring off into.
"I see, it's a little early in the morning for this kind of pining don't you think?" Rose teased as she pinched his cheeks.
"Sod off," he muttered as he turned his attention back to his food only momentarily distracted by having to smack Roses hand away as she attempted to ruffle his already unkempt hair.
"Oh don't be such a grumpy goblin about it. I say you just propose now and save us all the hassle. Besides, I'm going to owe Hugo 3 galleons if you don't do something before N.E.W.T's."
"Telling me about the bet nullifies the wager so your off the hook anyway." Al pulled the end of one of Roses curls roughly causing her to emit a loud shriek quickly followed by her smacking him in the arm.
"Ow! That hurt you git." He protested loudly as he rubbed his injured arm.
"Stop whining, I'll bet you 5 sickles it won't even bruise," she countered as she stole a piece of bacon from her cousins plate.
"How can you guys keep track of who owes who how much?" Scorpius laughed as he watched the two cousins interact. He was always in awe at the interaction between the big family, jealous at the instant inclusion they all had just by existing.
"It's not that hard, though you have to be careful with Freddie, he'll rob you blind if you let him." Al spoke this time since Rose's mouth was full.
"So what was that first bet about?" Scorpius asked only to have Al turn a rich shade of scarlet and Rose to almost gag on her bacon.
"Nothing, hey Scorpius did you finish your charms essay? It would be great if you could explain the theory behind the refilling charm and the different ways to_" Al's was never given a chance to finish because once Rose was able to breath normally again she was talking over him.
"Oh that, well our little Albus here is in love." Rose said in a very good imitation of Mrs. Potter.
"Shut up right now or I'll tell Aunt Fleur you broke that vase three years ago and blamed it on Norbert." He pointed his fork at her threateningly
"Ha, you already ratted me out last summer, I told you that you'd want to save that for something better than me telling Alisha Ming that you used to run around the yard naked exclaiming you were Marvin the Madd muggle."
"Who's he in love with? Is it Alisha? I hate it when you guys do this with me right here." They exchanged a look with Al clearly stating he wanted to kill her and Rose feeling smug.
"Al here is just bitter because he's in love with the only untouchable girl his age." She nodded her head toward the Hufflepuff table. "Poor sod could have fallen for anyone and he just has to go and fall for Alice Longbottom." At this revelation Al punched his cousin in the arm.
"Ow!" She returned the punch. "Looks like I owe you 5 sickles because that is definitely going to bruise. I'm going to tell your Dad you hit a girl."
"I'll tell your Mum you ditched prefect duties last night." Scorpius dropped his fork onto his plate and he felt his neck growing warm, he tugged on the collar of his sweater. To his relief and annoyance Rose didn't miss a beat.
"I didn't ditch prefect duties, I just ditched Hazel." Rose muttered defensively.
"It's for the safety and protection of the prefects to patrol in pairs." Al adopted an air of pompous superiority. Rose snorted just as she stole a gulp from Al's glass of pumpkin juice the burst into a loud peel of laughter.
"I love Uncle Percy, just for the entertainment value alone. Now stop snooping into my prefect duties of last night or you'll ruin all of our careful planning." Scorpius took his turn snorting into his pumpkin juice but Rose just smiled and winked at her cousin as he cottoned on.
"So you've all done something then?" He asked excitedly.
"What we may or may not have done last night may or may not have anything to do with no one in particular. For all you know I was snogging some dapper gentleman last night and no one did anything at all." At these words Scorpius's elbow slipped off the tables edge causing the contents of him glass to spill all over the front of his school robes.
Was she trying to give him a heart attack? Was she going to tell Al? He hadn't planned on telling anyone but for all Scorpius knew the girls dorm had been privileged to the in depth knowledge of what sort of kisser he was. What sort of kisser was he? I mean if she's told someone, was there a way for him to find out? Scorpius meditated momentarily on the various methods he'd heard of for manipulating information out of someone and briefly wondered if his dad would send him a vial of veritaserum if he asked for it before he was brought back to the present by the quarrelling cousins.
"It would look suspicious if you knew too much Albey Walby, you'll just have to be surprised just like the rest of the uninformed masses," she made to pinch his cheeks but he deftly dodged her and then pulled her hair again. "Stop messing up my hair you tosser," she said as she adjusted whatever was holding her hair in the position it was in.
Scorpius loved to watch her adjust her hair. Rose would bite her lip and look upward as though it were possible that looking hard enough would enable her to see the top of her head. She would wrinkle her nose in concentration and curse when unable to locate a mirror when finished only to remember she knew how to conjure one, a N.E.W.T standard feat and inspect it. It was adorable. When finished she tapped the glassy surface with the tip of her wand and without saying a word it vanished. He felt his lip curve into a half smile, she was truly amazing. Funny, beautiful and able to run circles around half the class academically. She had to be aware of the power she held over him.
"Well boys, it's been a pleasure but I got back to the dorms after Becky had gone to bed and we have secret affairs to discuss." Never had a Jane Austen quote invoked so much panic before. Scorpius chanced a glance at Rose only to find her blushing and looking down at the floor. The first hint of awkwardness between them all morning. Well at least it wasn't just him feeling like an idiot.
He watched Rose walk off in the direction of the Ravenclaw table and just as he was about to turn his attention back to his breakfast he watched her as she look back at him. Her auburn curls bouncing along her back, her porcelain features in perfect profile, then their eyes met for the first time all morning and she smiled at him before looking at the path before her.
His heart soared as he watched her walk away, her school robes draped over her messenger bag, bright neon orange and pink striped tights beneath the skirt swishing methodically beneath the curve of her arse. He couldn't hold back the thought that less than 12 hours ago he was holding that arse in his hand.
He felt his head cock to one side as he let his eyes follow her.
"Ouch!" Scorpius exclaimed as a hard punch collided on his bicep. "What was that for?" He asked as he rubbed his injury. "It's hazardous to ones health hanging out with you lot."
"Yeah, and if I ever catch you ogling my cousin like shes the center fold in Wanton Witch I'll pick a more effective place to injury, got it?" Scorpius felt his face flush at being called out at such a moment. I guess he wasn't really secretive about it at all if he allowed himself to do that so openly and without any thought to the world around him. He was about to apologize but Al spoke before he got the chance. "I am fine with you, ya know, feeling all lovey dovey about her and wanting to, uhm, hold hands or whatever but I never want to see that look on your face again."
Scorpius laughed and continued blushing a deeper shade of pink, a few moments later however a thought occurred to him.
"Al, why is Alice Longbottom off limits?" It was Al's turn to change color.
"Because as a 13 year old wanker I agreed to the most basic and strict rule of 'the brood'" Al answered in a forlorn tone as he watched Alice's long blonde hair as she talked with her friends.
"The way you guys talk about it 'The Brood' it's like a cult or something. Do you have to sacrifice a virgin or perform a blood ritual to sign up or something." Scorpius's voice was saturated with bitterness. He hated being excluded from this coolest of gangs, though he counted most of the so called 'brood' as his closest friends and routinely hung out at their homes on holidays. Al chuckled before answering him.
"No sacrificial virgins or blood, but there is a secret ceremony." Scorpius raised an eyebrow to show his piqued interest. "It all started when Teddy, you met Teddy and his wife Victoire last summer. Well, I don't remember all of it exactly, but when he came back from his first year at school he was really upset and wouldn't talk to my Dad, who is his Godfather. Anyway it turns out that some of this kids had pointed out when he said that he was in our family that he actually wasn't. That Godfather isn't the same as Uncle or Dad and they said he was just a mix blood mongrel or some bullshit like that.
"Anyway when he got back from school for the summer he was really upset and it took two weeks to finally get Teddy to say what was wrong and my Dad completely freaked out. Said he wanted to talk to those stupid brats himself and that he was just as much his family as anyone else in his life. Well then I guess Teddy said something about how that wasn't really true because he was actually raised by family, and then he got into the Weasleys by having special ceremony, a wedding that Teddy had attended.
"So my Dad decided that if that's all it would take to make Teddy family, then they would have to have a ceremony to make it official. Now I can't get into the specifics or anything because you are not brood approved but I'll let slip that it involves howling at the full moon." Al smirked at his tantalizing hint of their secret ceremony.
"Brood approved." Scorpius muttered under his breath. "and does my family tree have anything to do with my disapproval." Scorpius felt the fist fall in the same spot it had before.
"I'll have you know you were approved by a landslide when we voted, but Rose said she got the most say since you were her friend first and that you weren't joining." Al admitted with a wide grin. Scorpius's stomach twisted in knots and he fought down the urge to get up and sulk in the library.
"Hey, don't look so down and out about it. In your situation it's a good thing, that is if you actually want to date her and not just admire from afar." Confusion washed over him and he just stared at Al waiting for further explanation. "It's why Alice is untouchable. That rule I said I so stupidly agreed to, yeah well I didn't just agree to it, I came up with it. No inter brood dating."
"Man you really are an idiot, I would never ban myself from dating Alice Longbottom, she's hot."
"Yeah well you hadn't just spent the last several years getting chased by her in kissing tag or being told you were really cute. Now I wouldn't mind so much getting chased down when the threat is being caught just to end with a good snog, nor would I mind her giggling about how cute I am. But as a 13 year old I was bloody sick of it. I wouldn't be in the mess I'm in now if it weren't for Teddy and Victoire." Al lamented as he grabbed his bag and motioned Scoripus to do the same.
"So Teddy and Victoire said you couldn't date?" Scorpius asked, confused.
"No, I came up with it, but only because about a year after they started dating they broke up and it was chaos for the brood. We had no idea what happened but we all took sides anyway and went so far as to not talk to anyone who wasn't siding with the same person. Well they got back together and we all were fine again but the holidays while they were broken up where a nightmare. Granny Weasley about had a heart attack trying to not take sides and keep them both invited for Christmas.
"So we made a pact. No dating. Not unless you both agree to skip all mutual family activities for 1 year and to keep it a secret for as long as possible so as to not weird the rest of us out. You can't make a go of it until you're both out of school and no one can take sides when it's over."
"Wow, strict rules."
"Yeah, like I said untouchable. So last summer we voted on inducting you, it has been a while since we've had the ceremony and it's always a blast, plus you fit in pretty nicely with us though there was a debate on if you'd take the stick out of your arse when you joined."
"I don't have a stick up my-
"Any how," Al interrupted "you were voted in on a landslide but Rose was against it. At the time she was saying it was about how you and her weren't quite fine again after all that happened last year but anyone with a brain knew that was a pile of hippogriff dung." Scorpius stared at him as they walked down to the dungeon potions classroom, then shook his head as if the answer was obvious. "She didn't want you moved into untouchable status."
"Right now, you and her are fair game. Though I don't know if she can come up with another reason when we vote on you again. I'd say you've got until Easter holidays to make a move or else you are cemented firmly in the friend zone." A mingled sense of dread and relief washed over him. This made him feel much better about his constant exclusion from the brood's activities and jokes. Dread since that mean a matter of mere weeks before he lost his shot with her for good.
When they walked into the smoke filled classroom Scorpius's eyes landed on the empty chair next to Rose before he looked over at her, sitting down smiling widely at him. Al just chuckled and took his usual set next to Jacob Creevey.
Scorpius stared at her without moving for a moment. This was it, as he looked at her he knew he was deciding his future with Rose. He could either sit next to her and take notes like nothing had changed between them, or he could 'go for it' as Al had so aptly put it and do whatever the hell people do when going after the girl of their dreams.
He squared his shoulders as he stood up to full height, he knew what he was going to do and there was no use looking back now. He crossed the room and dropped his bag next to hers. As he moved to sit down he placed his hand on the small of her back and moved his lips to just next to her ear as he whispered.
"You look beautiful today Rose." She stared up at him with a mixture of confusion and pleasure on her now pink cheeked face.
"Thank you." She stammered before pulling out her quill and textbook from her back. Yes, there was no going back now and he moved his chair as close to her as he could and flashed her a wide smile.