"How about a walk Rosie?" Scorpius asked gently.

It was Sunday evening. The air was cool and crisp outside and from the tinted window Scorpius could just see a slight breeze that rustled the amber and yellow leaves of the trees and swept them up off the ground. The Autumn air appealed to Scorpius and he was keen to get out for awhile. Sighing, he reflected over the events of the weekend. The days just seemed to fly by, like the leaves flying up and past the window now. Rose had been much better yesterday, as compared to her erratic and unforeseen behaviour at dinner on Friday. More of her old self, she had cracked some good jokes and had laughed at others'. There had been a rejuvenated look in her face and Scorpius still pictured in his mind the way her eyes had twinkled earlier that afternoon. She had even wanted to play three games of wizard's chess in a row against his father! Maybe all she needed was the extra rest, a bit of time to get away, he had reasoned it with himself on Saturday. But then of course he also had to bear in mind that they had all made the special effort not to bring up the topic or rather the issue of Quidditch with her again. That was probably the reason why, not the change in scenery, he decided. They had gone down to the lake yesterday, to fish. Scorpius' skills, he had realised had become a little rusty but by the end of the expedition, he had managed a sizable catch. His parents, being avid fishes, also brought in praiseworthy catches. But naturally it was Rose, being the over achiever that she was, who had caught the biggest out of the lot, a 10 pound rainbow trout.

And now, it was Sunday. Too fast; too soon, he reflected. Scorpius had already packed his things up and so had Rose, in anticipation of their departure back to Falmouth and Chudley respectively. Well it wasn't like there had been much to pack anyway. And while his mother would have liked him to stay one more night, Scorpius insisted that they needed to get back for training the following morning. He didn't want to appear groggy and late fro practice unnecessarily. It had thus been decided that Rose and Scorpius would leave after dinner. For now, the two of them were sitting in the Malfoy's living room again. The green fire was crackling and gave off that familiar but nevertheless, eerie glow. Scorpius was seated by the window and opposite Rose who had been reading one of his father's excellent books on Ancient Runes. Speaking of his parents, they had gone out to Diagon Alley for awhile, just to grab some essential supplies. They had said that they would be back before dinner. For now, there wasn't much to do. Except maybe go for a walk.

"Rose?" Scorpius called her. She evidently hadn't heard him the first time.

"Hmm?" Rose tore herself away from the page and glanced up at Scorpius. Her head seemed to be full of thought but she gave him a genuine smile.

"I asked if you want to go for a walk?" he replied.

Rose bit her lip.

"I'd love to, you know that but this book..." she trailed off looking a little forlorn.

"Come on Rosie! You can always borrow the book but it's not everyday you get an Autumn walk about the Malfoy grounds do you?" he looked at her imploringly.

Rose furrowed her brow, glancing from the book to Scorpius. Finally she sighed in exasperation and set it down on the table beside her.

"Aagh! You are so infuriating!" she gasped crossing her arms and staring at him.

Scorpius grinned and rose from his seat. He crosses over to Rose and helped her up.

"Come on! The fresh air is good for the soul!" he called.

"Well it didn't do you much good then." she scoffed.

Scorpius rolled his eyes and efficiently dragged her to the entrance of the Manor.

He swiftly opened up the cloak cupboard and grabbed his coat. Since Rose hadn't anticipated going outdoors, she had borrowed one of Astoria's for the weekend. Helping her into it, Scorpius then shut the cupboard door. He quickly scribbled a note to his parents, informing them of where they had gone and placed it on the side table beside the cupboard. Satisfied, Scorpius then tied up his laces. They were always coming loose. Looking up and seeing that Rose was ready, he rose and offered her his arm.

"Shall we?" he grinned like a kid.

She laughed.

"We shall!"

With that, he summoned the effort to open the main door to the Manor. It was a large and frequently polished oak door and it required some strain to pull it open. After being away for awhile Scorpius had forgotten just how much strain. Reflecting on the door itself though, he had to admit, it made a big statement. Some experts in wood carving and sculpting might consider it a work of art in itself. For one it had been here since the Manor's construction and had seen many a feet pass through. It also had the proud and bold insignia of the Malfoy household on it's front with vines carves into the edges and a large serpent poised at it's foot. The solid ebony wooden door handle gave off an impressive aura. It reflected status and power.

Yanking it open now, Scorpius tried to remain collected as Rose chuckled.

"How did you manage to live here for so long and still find it difficult to open that door?" she asked playfully.

Scorpius rolled his eyes again.

"Fine, next time you open it then."

Rose said nothing but laughed and made her way outside. Eagerly, Scorpius followed her but not before remembering to yank the door to close it behind him. Rose had already started without him and was making her way down the driveway. The gravel on the ground crunched under their feet and Scorpius hurried to catch up with her.

"Going somewhere?" he asked when he reached her.

Rose playfully punched him and buried her hands in her pockets.

"It's lovely isn't it?"

Scorpius observed the scenery before them. During the Second Wizarding War, much of the greenery around the Manor had been destroyed. To start of with Scorpius' grandparents had never had what muggles might call, "green thumbs". But since then, once his father had taken over the estate, Astoria had committed herself to the reconstruction of the Manor's ground and gardens. She had always had a love for flowers and the current botany seen on the grounds was a reflection of that. Now there were all kinds of shrubs, plants and large trees around the property. Scorpius recalled spending much of his childhood running about through the smaller flower beds and at the end of the day he would always pick a few for his mother. Though now most of the smaller plants weren't visible or had stopped flowering due to the approaching winter, Scorpius could still see the trees. The trees that he had tried to climb as an adventurous 7 year old all those years ago. The massive trees that loomed a little forebodingly in the distance. In the dusk, they looked almost unearthly.

"Yes, it's quite something. You're mother's really maintained things well." Rose remarked.

"Well I suppose gardening's one of her hobbies and passions, but I imagine that she still uses magic to do it." he replied a little smugly.

Rose chuckled.

"You Malfoys are all the same..." she sighed.

Scorpius glanced at Rose for a moment. In this light, she looked absolutely lovely. Her hair was down, the orange rays of the sun, bringing out the rich red tints in her curls which gently framed her face. A small blue clip kept hair away out of her hazel brown eyes. Her simple but elegant sky blue dress gently wrapped around her petite silhouette and with Astoria's dark grey coat wrapped around her, she looked ready for a dinner with the Minister of Magic. Catching him staring at her, Rose smiled.

"What?" she asked him.

"Nothing, you're beautiful."

Scorpius had expected Rose to immediately retort back. But instead, she paused as if considering his compliment before murmuring,

"Thank you."

Then she promptly turned away and began walking off towards the gates of Malfoy Manor. Scorpius decided that now was as good a time as any.

"Rosie!" he called after her.

Rose turned around.

"What is it Scorp?"

"Follow me." he replied and with that he turned back towards the house and began walking. After awhile he heard her brisk footsteps behind him.

"Where are we going?" she asked as she caught up.

"You'll see." he replied again.

They had reached the front of the driveway but instead of walking back to the entrance like Rose had anticipated, Scorpius swung sharply to the right of the Manor, away from the entrance. Now he was heading purposefully towards the back of the house. They had stepped off the driveway itself and instead of gravel beneath them, there was the softer crunch of dried up and shriveled leaves. Leaves that had once displayed a beautiful and vibrant shade of green. And now they were just things to be trodden on. The life had simply been sucked out of them. There was no more colour, no more life. They were dead.

"Like our relationship" Scorpius thought a little remorsefully to himself.

Suddenly their intended destination appeared before them. It was harder to see it now, all these years later since it was first planted, it seemed to blend in with the rest of the smaller plants and shrubs. No longer was it a singular lone figure, one that rose up to be quite apart from the others. Rose breathed deeply as she saw the willow tree. It had been so long since she had been here. Well maybe not that long. But with all the things she had gotten caught up with she had almost forgotten she had ever been here in the first place. But the willow had faithfully remained as if waiting for her, it's long outstretched branches, drooping sadly and swaying in the gentle breeze. Scorpius now turned back to face Rose who had been lagging slightly behind and took her hand. She did not resist as he lead her closer and closer towards the shade of the tree which now seemed to loom higher over them as they got closer. The willow seemed to act as a curtain. As they stepped under it and retreated towards it tall, strong and circular trunk, it's gentle branches seemed to phase out the rest of the world and it was like Scorpius and Rose were in a little place of their own. A little safe haven.

Scorpius released Rose's hand and she made her way over towards the small and forgotten park bench that still sat in the tree's shade. The black shiny paint on it's metallic frame had been chipped and their was an interspersion of grey and black. Fallen leaves scattered it's seat but the wooden frame remained sturdy, protected from the elements by the willow's shelter. Rose dusted off the seat before settling herself into it. She gazed at Scorpius as he gently touched the willow's trunk. She didn't have to ask him why. Instead, she watched for some strange reason, with guilt, as his calloused fingertips ran over the carving that they had made as a pair nearly two years ago. Scorpius gently touched the carving, just to make sure it was there, that it had happened, though there was still a strong contrast of the carving against the rest of the dark bark of the tree. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, trying to remember exactly how it happened...

It had been a wonderful Summer afternoon. Warm but not humid. The Summer before their final year at Hogwarts. Rose and Scorpius had been enjoying the fruits of young love. It had been perhaps Rose's third visit to the Manor. Scorpius' parents had been out for the day, he could no longer remember the reason why. They had been having a picnic below the willow tree. The flowers had been in full bloom and lying on the picnic mat, the pair had been surrounded by daisies, magnolias, roses and carnations. They had just finished their sandwiches and Rose had been lying against the tree trunk in contentment, Scorpius' head resting in her lap.

"We should mark this spot." she had suggested.

"Why?" He had opened his eyes and squinted as they adjusted to the sunlight.

"To remember our time here silly!" her laugh still rang in his ears.

"Ok then."

"So what shall we do"

"Oh I know what we should do"

"Well tell me then!" she shoved him off her lap and pouted slightly.

Scorpius pecked her gently on the lips before jumping up and dusting himself off. Digging around in his pocket, he smirked with satisfaction as he finally pulled out his penknife.

Rose had snorted at this. "Oh and I suppose you just happened to bring that with you."

"Rosie I'm a wizard, expect the unexpected!" he grinned cheekily.

He then helped her to her feet and his left arm had snaked around her waist. She giggled as he grinned at her and set to work. A look of concentration had been on his face as he had begun to carve with his instrument. He started with the heart. He carved out one half and then the other. Taking a step back, he nodded in satisfaction. It was a decent looking heart. Then he carved a large and elegant looking letter "S" on the left side of the heart. Finally he added a little "+" sign smack in the middle of his handiwork.

"You're turn" he had turned to her.

Rose had smiled. "You didn't leave a lot for me to do."

"Leave the essential craftwork to the master."

Rose rolled her eyes but eagerly took the penknife, finishing their handiwork off with a very feminine looking "R" on the right.

Again they had taken a step back and gazed at it for awhile. After a brief but comfortable pause, they had both smiled in contentment, very pleased.

"That will never change. I'll take care of you forever." Scorpius had murmured in her ear and pointing directly to the carving.

Rose had glanced at him a little uncertainly but hopefully before replying.

"Forever?"

"Forever and ever."

Scorpius had felt a warm glow in his heart as she, comforted by his words, had nestled her head into the slight crook of his neck, leaning on him slightly. Needing him. It was one of the few times when Rose had allowed herself to depend on him. It made him feel good. With a contented sigh, he had tucked away his penknife and had wrapped his arms around her. They had been secure and comfortable then, protected by the willow and with the warmth of the Summer surrounding them. In that one moment, the both of them had thought that nothing could break them or tear them apart...

Yet look at the two of them now! How different they had both become. Rose had suddenly risen from her the bench and as if it were an obligation, she crossed over to join Scorpius.

"Funny what we did when we were younger"

She chuckled as she thoughtfully stroked her letter "R" which still seemed to stand out so prominently as if it had been carved yesterday.

Scorpius, whose hand had dropped back to his side nodded.

"Yes, funny" he said a little bitterly.

"So what is it?" Rose asked without even looking up at him, her eyes still firmly planted on the tree.

"What?"

"This isn't just an ordinary walk for us to reminisce I'm sure. You always have a reason. So what is it?" she continued.

"Wow, so outright?"

"There's no point sugarcoating whatever it is Scorp. You might as well cut to the chase."

Scorpius took a moment trying to process what Rose was saying. There it was again, that distant behaviour he had been seeing for the last few months. The more he spoke it seemed, the higher and thicker Rose was building her mental wall. And he couldn't, no matter how hard her tried, break through to her. It frustrated him to no end. He had no idea how to proceed from here. Well he had had one idea but it wasn't much of an option. Scorpius had considered once or twice these last few days in to employ Legilimency. But no sooner had it crossed his mind, Scorpius had realised much too quickly that he couldn't or simply wouldn't do that to Rose. No matter what she was going through, she trusted him and she would never employ Legilimency on him, no matter what the circumstance. It was an invasion of one's personal space. He couldn't betray her trust by intruding her mind, though he was desperate to simply comprehend what was going on in there. So instead, he took a deep breath and took the more conventional approach.

"What's wrong Rose?" he asked her, staring at her pale figure. She still refused to meet his eyes and so Scorpius willed himself to stare at her until she would have no other choice accept to comply.

True enough, after a pause, Rose finally detached her hand from the tree and met his strong gaze with an equally intimidating death stare.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Her voice had suddenly gone icy cold. Any trace of warmth or humor that had been there barely a minute ago seemed to have evaporated. It made Scorpius shudder, how quickly she could change from the Rose he had known for over 7 years and this... this creature before him. He hardly recognised her at all.

He frowned at her. "Please don't make this more difficult than it has to be Rose. I want to help you."

"With what? There's nothing I need help with." There was a clear sound of defiance in her voice as she snapped her reply. She had now crossed her arms across her chest and had drawn herself to full height, as if to challenge him.

"Rose let's be honest. You're not acting yourself."

"Says who?"

"Everyone! Even my parents notice it! You've been distant and you're holding something back. I've been patient, I've tried to be understanding. Well maybe that's not true, maybe I just didn't want to confront the fact that you were changing, that something was wrong and so I tried to give you you're own space. I thought it would blow over. That was my fault, I should have been there to support you and address whatever this is with you. I'm sorry about that. I truly am. But I'm here now Rose and you need to tell what's going on because if you don't I'm worried what you might become."

"Oh, and what exactly am I becoming?" she asked, her tone was still accusing and now it was almost taunting, as if Scorpius was the bad guy and she was daring him to find fault in her.

"A stranger." Scorpius murmured.

"Can you hear what you're saying Rose? This isn't you. This was never you. You're kind and understanding and warm. You love hugs and butterflies. You like to talk about things, not shut your feelings away. You lead conversations, not merely smile or nod when you're expected to. You're loud and outgoing, not controlled and subdued. Whatever this issue is or whatever these issues are, they're consuming you. They're changing the Rose whom we all know and love into something so strange and foreign that we hardly know how to act around you anymore!"

That seemed to catch Rose and she paused, the violent fire and the impending anger that had been building up in her eyes, suddenly dissipated, like a bucket of ice cold water had been thrown over her and she slumped her shoulders. Scorpius could see that she was fighting back tears. Albeit rather unsuccessfully.

"Wow" she choked slightly. "That was quite a speech."

Scorpius suddenly regretted his small outburst. He hadn't expected to vent his frustration and all his fears so... explosively.

"Rose I..." he started

"Have I changed that much?" she whispered.

Scorpius stared at her, unsure how to respond. She had now wrapped her arms around her trembling and hunched figure, crumpled and broken, the tears were beginning to flow freely, slipping down the sides of her face.

"I never meant to." she continued.

"I don't understand..." Scorpius shook his head.

"I never meant to change. I just thought I could handle it on my own."

She sobbed a little more before her hands instinctively reached for the tears and brushed them from her face. Trying to collect herself, she took several deep breaths before she looked to face Scorpius again.

"But obviously I couldn't" her voice still wavered but her eyes had renewed strength in them. Like she had made up her mind about something. Scorpius realised quickly that she was about to erect her mental walls once again. The moment of vulnerability in Rose had passed. She was about to phase him out once more.

"Please Rose, let me understand." in desperation Scorpius quickly reached for her arms but Rose drew them sharply away.

"You can't! You'll never understand. I know you want to help me but you can't. It's too late. It's too late!" she retreated several steps back.

Scorpius stared at her helplessly.

"It's never too late Rose. Please try. Ok, here's my guess then. It's about Quidditch isn't it? Every time I or anyone else brings it up you get like this. So defensive And when we talked about Keitch the other day..." he began

"For Merlins sake! Stop it!" she suddenly wailed. The calm exterior she had managed to scramble to piece together a moment ago was now completely shattered before him. She was broken, utterly broken. "Stop trying to figure it out because you can't get it! It's far too complicated than you could possibly imagine."

"It is Quidditch then. Why else would you respond like this. I mean just... just look at yourself. Look at what you're doing. But what I don't get is, what about it? Is it the training? Are you too tired? Or stressed maybe? Are you..." he continued, trying to work it out more for himself rather than give her plausible suggestions.

"No, no no!" she had her back to him now and her hands were on her ears as if she were cursing Scorpius and all the words out of her mind. Rose was nearly hysterical as she continued. "All I wanted was to get away this weekend. To get away from it all. But I can't. I'm reminded of it everywhere I go. Even by you!" she pointed her finger at him accusingly.

"Well I won't remind you, at least I'll try not to if you just tell me what IT is. Please just tell me." he implored.

And suddenly Scorpius felt the angry tears welling in his eyes. He couldn't understand why but he couldn't and didn't want to hold them back. He blinked violently as they clouded his vision. Seeing Rose like this, in this frantic state where nothing she said seemed to make sense to him, it was terrifying. And it was heartbreaking because he knew that she wouldn't or maybe she was right, she simply couldn't let him help her. There was nothing he could do except let her fall to pieces. Glancing at the carving in the willow's trunk once more, he let the tears fall freely as he spoke,

"I promised you once. A while ago. I promised I would take care of you! Forever! I promised you." He stumbled on his words as the tears choked him.

Hearing his sobs, Rose whirled around to face him. Seeing him in tears hurt her, Scorpius realised. Observing him, she looked like someone had blasted her with the Cruciatus curse. Now she was crying again, almost with him, the tears sliding down and dropping off her nose and chin like quiet little raindrops on a window pane. Soft and silent. Between the two of them there was so much sorrow and regret and pain. Rose gently and tentatively reached forward to stroke Scorpius' face.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. It's never been you're fault you know. It's been mine." she soothed him.

Scorpius started to protest but she silenced him with a melancholic smile.

"No. I'm serious. Maybe you blame yourself for not coming to me earlier. For not talking things out. But I was the one with the problem. I should have come to you when I could. But I can't anymore Scorp. It's too late. Please try and understand that? We're past talking things out. We're way past that stage."

Scorpius couldn't respond, he was like a statue without the will to break out of it's mold. He had no idea what she meant by what she was saying and so he just stared into the depths of her darkened brown eyes which were drowning with an enormous amount of guilt.

"You kept you're promise, you did take care of me. Whenever you could, you did. Never second guess yourself that you didn't do enough for me. Don't ever feel guilty. I don't deserve you. I never have. It was I that didn't do enough for you. Look at what I've done to you. You're crying. For the love of Merlin, you're crying! I don't think I've actually seen you cry like this before... I should have let you take care of me more. I should have allowed myself to be more dependent. But I was vain and proud and defiant Scorp. I was being myself, headstrong. I wanted to go out and conquer all my issues alone. But I can't do that, I've realised I can't be strong alone anymore" her voice cracked.

"It's not too late" Scorpius sounded a little like a parrot for repeating that line again and again as he took her hand from his face and held it gently. "You can be strong with me" he sobbed.

She laughed a little through her sobs.

"No I can't. Because you remind me of everything I should have done, everything I did wrong. Just how much I messed up. You're the epitome of my failure. I've caused you too much pain Scorp and too much confusion to drag you further down with me now. You never asked for any of this but I gave it to you anyway. I never gave you a second thought. I have been so selfish and I'm so sorry..." she trailed off

"What are you saying?" Scorpius' voice was barely audible.

"I'm saying that I need to go." Rose uttered.

Scorpius' mind suddenly went blank as he processed what she had just said. It was as if the only candle left in the world had been flickering and finally had been extinguished. Any hope for reconciliation with Rose now had just slipped away from him. Was this it then? The end of them?

"You need to let me go." Rose re emphasised, her voice was completely neutral as she tried to simplify the meaning of her words but Scorpius could tell this was killing her as much as it was killing him.

"I can't... I could never." he swore.

"But you have to. I need help Scorp. I'm messed up. You're right, exactly right. You always are. I'm not myself. This is consuming me, dragging me down. But I'm not about to bring you down with me. I should have worked it out with you when I had the chance but it's gotten far too complicated. I wouldn't be able to look at you straight in the face anymore if I told you. I'm so guilty for what I've done to you. All this secrecy, this pretense. And I don't think I could bear the way you'd look at me either. So please don't let me destroy you. You have so much to give. I don't want to see you go to bits like I have. I'll work things out but I just can't do it with you. I can't endure watching you suffer with me. You have to just... stay away from me."

With that Rose retracted her hand from his grasp. She wrapped her arms around herself again. Looking at him, fresh tears rose to her eyes as she whispered pitifully,

"I hope you find it in your heart to forgive me. I'm so sorry Scorpius"

But Scorpius was quick to retaliate

"I can't let you go Rose. Because I need you. I love you. Don't you see dear? Don't you see? That either way you destroy me. By telling me, you supposedly wreck me. But by keeping me in the dark, that's an even worse form of torture!"

"I don't deserve you..." Rose shook her head as if she hadn't heard him.

"Rose you are everything to me..."

"Please just forget me Scorpius. I don't know if we can ever be friends again, once I sort things out. I hope so. I truly truly hope so. But please for now, I need a clean start. So just forget me. Think of me as dead, remember me as I was."

"I love you"

"I love you too. And if you truly love me, you'd let me go."

Scorpius wanted to protest. He wanted to close the gap between them and kiss her right then and there and defy her still. If she could be stubborn than so could he! He wanted to prove to her that when he said forever, he had meant it. But something was holding him back. It was the nagging thought at the back of his head that was telling to do otherwise. That was telling him to let her walk away. To let her get better. That if he cared, he would respect her wishes and let her get better. Rose needed to get over this whatever it was, she needed to move forward. And maybe Scorpius was one of the elements that was pulling her back. At least that was what she seemed to be suggesting. He has to be brave and selfless for her sake. And so summoning all the courage he had not let the fresh tears push through, he spoke,

"Goodbye Rose."

Rose blinked for a moment as if trying to process what he had said. Scorpius wished, as he watched her, that he could take it all back. But he held strong as he waited for her response. After a pause she nodded, her eyes were filled with guilt but also of gratitude. Scorpius knew that he had done the right thing letting her go. She needed to find herself and conquer her demons. He might have been able to have helped her once. But not anymore. This had escalated to a level that only she could address. And so she replied,

"Goodbye Scorpius"

Then without another word she turned slowly and purposefully walked straight back towards the Manor. Scorpius could see her bury her head in her hands as she walked. Fighting his every instinct, he stood rooted to the ground under the willow, watching her go.

She did not look back.