For the third challenge of the competition.

House: Gryffindor

Prompt: All of set three except: you know?

…

Letting Go

An old woman was staring out the open window at the star-strewn sky, rocking slowly back and forth in the ornate chair. Her hand rested on an old leather fairy tale book. Slowly her eyes traveled down to the old book and then over to the little girl sleeping soundly in her bed.

She caressed the gold letters spelling Fearie Tales on the front. Opening the book she flipped through the age-worn pages, taking the time to admire the detailed illustrations. On one page she stopped, staring at the three words near the bottom as kept a tear from rolling down her face; Happily Every After. If only that were true. There is a beginning to all things… but there is also an end. The old woman's eyes glazed over, as if she was staring at memories from very long ago…

"Rose!" Rose jumped and spun around quickly. She saw Scorpius running up to her from the other end of the entrance hall and waved at him.

"Hey, how was your summer?" He asked when he reached her.

"Fine, and you? She asked.

"Great, but I missed you." He said taking a step closer and wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Really?" Rose said slyly, then leaned up and kissed him. When they pulled apart they were both smiling.

"It's good to see you again, Rose." Scorpius said fondly.

"It's good to see you too, Scorpi." She said, hugging him tight. He held her close for a minute. Pulling away, Scorpius looked down at Rose.

"How about we go join the feast?"

xxxx

Rose crept down the dark corridors, her wand in one hand, the Marauders Map that she had borrowed from her cousin in the other. She headed towards the corridor by the kitchens where she was meeting Scorpius. As she got close she checked the map to make sure she was alone, and then frowned. Almost on top of Scorpius' dot was another dot labeled Vanessa Vane. Confused she walked a little, holding her wand high enough to illuminate a good portion of the corridor.

"Nox," She whispered when she got to the corridor Scorpius was in before poking her head around the corner. Scorpius stood amidst hundreds of floating candles, making out with that Vane girl.

Rose turned around and ran. She didn't feel angry. She didn't feel sad. She just felt numb. She couldn't believe Scorpius would do something like that.

When she got back to the Gryffindor common room the fat lady scolded her for waking her up, but let her in anyway.

Once inside she slowly walked over to a big armchair in front of the fire and sank down in it. She stared at the dancing flames but saw only Scorpius kissing Vane.

XXXX

The next morning Scorpius waved to Rose in the entrance hall but she ignored him and kept on walking.

"Rose?" He shouted, running up to her. When she still ignored him, he grabbed her arm. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing." She said, her voice sounded hollow and empty.

"Rose, at least tell me why you're upset." Rose felt a spark inside that seemed to rekindle her emotions. Hurt rose inside her heart and rage flowed through her veins.

"Oh, I'll tell you why I'm upset." She said in a deadly whisper. "But first, didn't you wonder at all why I didn't meet you last night? I would've expected that to be the first thing you asked me about." Scorpius stared at her, shocked.

"I… I forgot." He finally managed to stammer out.

"Oh, right, you forgot, you were probably too busy to think of a silly thing like that. By the way, are you sure Vane doesn't mind you talking to me? She looked like the jealous type." Scorpius seemed a little flustered, and didn't seem capable of talking.

"I thought you were different Scorpius, but you're just like all of your Slytherin friends; a slimy jerk." Rose walked away, holding back the tears that were threatening to fall. She promised herself that she would never cry for Scorpius.

While all of that had been happening, Rose had felt Vane's eyes on her back. And now, as she walked past her she said,

"Don't worry, he's all our yours." A surprised expression flitted across Vane's face.

Without another word to either, Rose walked into the great hall.

XXXX

The rest of the year passed in a blur. Every time she saw the candles floating in the great hall she felt another little tear in her heart; Scorpius had always lit candles when they snuck out at night to see each other but it seemed she wasn't the only one he did that for.

Although she pretended not be affected by the breakup during the day, she would always light a candle at night and stare out at the pitch-blackness that was cloaking the grounds. Still, she never let a single tear leave her eyes.

XXXX

Rose was wandering the halls the morning of their departure from Hogwarts, when she felt a stalling hand on her shoulder. Whirling around, she found herself face to face with Scorpius.

Angered reared up inside of Rose. She jerked his hand off her shoulder and started walking again.

"Rose! Wait! I need to talk to you!" Scorpius sounded desperate but Rose found it a lot easier to see through his act now.

"Let me guess. You're going to tell me how you're sorry and never meant to kiss her and how I'm the only one you love." Rose said coolly.

"I… well… Yeah, that was what I was going to say."

"Save it for someone who cares." Rose said, suppressing the urge to run up and kiss him.

"Please, Rose." This time Rose heard real desperation in his voice.

"Scorpius, don't even try to tell me that you didn't mean to kiss her, it was obvious you did." Scorpius opened his mouth to object, but Rose took a step forward and placed a finger over his lips. "No, please just listen. I did really love you and I still do. But how am I ever going to able to trust you now. Imagine how I must feel, having trusted you more than anyone else only to find you were cheating on me. That's not a wound that can be easily healed. You made your choice that night, and there's no going back on it now. All I want is to forget about all of this." Rose snatched her hand back and waited while Scorpius tried to absorb all she had just said.

"I really do love you." He finally managed to say.

"Do you really, though?" Rose asked sadly. Scorpius did not respond.

"Can we at least still be friends?" Scorpius asked in defeat.

"Please, Scorpius just let me forget." Rose stood for a minute staring into his eyes before turning around and walking away. That was the last time she ever saw him.

Rose closed the fairy tale book and stared at her veined and wrinkled hands for a minute as she collected herself. She still felt sad thinking about her last year at Hogwarts but was surprised to find that it was no longer the crushing pain of loss; it was a more subtle pain, the pain of accepting that something you want can never be.

Rose slowly reached for her cane and got up. Shuffling over to the sleeping form of her granddaughter she softly kissed the little girl's forehead before leaving the room.

Once in her own room she lit the candle on her bedside table as she did every night. Crawling into bed she let her memories stray one more time to the last time she had seen Scorpius. She realized that, unknowingly, she had finally learned how to let go. Leaning over, she blew out the candle and closed her eyes for the last time, the smoke from the snuffed out candle still fresh in the air.

…

I hope you liked it. I think this might be my favorite fic so far for this comp. XD